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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24372742">Baby</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_to_B_and_C/pseuds/A_to_B_and_C'>A_to_B_and_C</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>EXOVERSE [15]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>EXO (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Baekhyun has to write an article on Park's family, Bottom Chanyeol, Chanyeol is a bit an asshole for a while, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, M/M, Top Baekhyun, and you don't have to be that careful to see lovely interactions between Tiffany and Taeyeon, businessman Chanyeol, if you read carefully maybe you find a bit of KaiSoo?, photographer Baekhyun, with a past relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 00:35:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>39,526</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24372742</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_to_B_and_C/pseuds/A_to_B_and_C</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After coming back to Seoul, Baekhyun would never imagine meeting again Park Chanyeol.<br/>And especially in all the articles he wrote in his life, he never thought he would write something on Chanyeol to elogiate his life and how marvellous his career was.<br/>What he doesn't know, though, is that he would come to discover that maybe the same "Chanyeol" he fell in love with so many years ago, is not too lost in his success and popularity.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol, Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Kim Jongin | Kai</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>EXOVERSE [15]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1658077</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Baby</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Here we are again with another fic for EXOVERSE! New fic, this time as you may read, with Top Baekhyun for the first time.<br/>Hope you will like it nevertheless!<br/>Btw, I suck alway more at writing summaries, I'm sorry!</p><p>Baekhyun's new Album "Delight" also his out so please listen to it and love it to bits! &lt;3 "Girl I'm your Candy"</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Baekhyun's life as a photo reporter was literally a mess. <br/>
One month he lived in Seoul and six in Kabul. <br/>
Three months in Bogota and the other six in Moscow. For going back again to Seoul for few days and then departing again toward Rome, London, Tokyo, New York, Istanbul, New Delhi, Beijing, Sydney or whichever other destination he found suitable for his next work.  <br/>
That time he was coming back to Korea after almost a year of absence due to his report in Colombia.<br/>
It was a big deal, bigger than his previous articles and finally for the first time ever someone from Korea was really reporting what was happening over there.<br/>
He had a house in which he almost never lived in Seoul being him always around the world and it always felt strange coming back and finding it equally empty as the previous time, and completely silent, void of any memory, perfume or taste he tried around the world.<br/>
That evening he met Jondae at the small mart under his apartment who, perplexed to see him around, invited him to their high school reunion party.<br/>
Kim Jondae was one of the few people he kept in contact even after transferring to the United States when he was still in high school.<br/>
He could definitely state that Jondae was his friend.<br/>
Baekhyun initially didn't want to go but Jondae managed to convince him with the promise to see their art teacher, old man Lee, the one who inspired Baekhyun to pursue photography.<br/>
Baekhyun was an atypical person.<br/>
He didn't go to university.<br/>
He saw more than half of the world literally and he went through people's joy and sufferance every day.<br/>
He was like that middle-aged aunt who drank fine wine and came back from long journeys every now and then just to go away again suddenly without telling anyone.<br/>
His relationship with his family was... Almost not existing. <br/>
He had some problems with his family in the past and since his mother went away, remarrying with another man and his brother almost disowned him for being gay, he could say that it was almost like he didn’t have any family.<br/>
Baekhyun won several prizes for his articles and photographs around the world.<br/>
He was almost renowned as photographer and writer.<br/>
Going to the party, wasn't a bad idea per se because he also managed to meet Minseok and Sehun, Baekhyun’s ex schoolmates.<br/>
Life was different for them.<br/>
They both took their parent's place in both their family business and they worked what Baekhyun defined as a boring office work.<br/>
Not that this made their lives any worse, just for Baekhyun it would be something it would bore him to death.<br/>
When he even slightly hinted to traveling the world, he realized that both of them never left Korea.<br/>
What was the bad side of going to that party, though, was not asking to Jondae if Park Chanyeol would be there too.<br/>
Not that Baekhyun had anything against him.<br/>
Or better maybe.<br/>
Yes.<br/>
A bit.<br/>
Or maybe more than a bit.<br/>
They didn't leave each other in the best terms when Baekhyun had to move out of the country during high school to forcefully follow his parents.<br/>
But it wasn't for this reason that he couldn't quite stand Chanyeol.<br/>
Park Chanyeol was one of those men who claimed to be a self-made businessman since his family wasn't that rich to start with.<br/>
And maybe it was true too, Baekhyun didn't want to tell anything different, but that made Chanyeol one of those rich people without any touch with the real world and what happened outside their big ass houses, bright parties and sparkling wines.<br/>
The worst type of people in Baekhyun's idea.<br/>
And Park Chanyeol materialized as a mirage while Baekhyun was drinking alone sitting at the counter of the bar.<br/>
He was typing a message to his editor, Kim Junmyeon, the only person in the world that still stood him and that even when he told him to fuck off he did it with love, asking him about the redacted version of his article when someone sat near him, ordering a cocktail.<br/>
"Look who there's here" he stated and Baekhyun shifted his stare from his phone to the man sitting near him and realizing he was Chanyeol.<br/>
He became a fine man, tanned, golden hair, fascinating smile and small dimples.<br/>
More than handsome enough in Baekhyun's opinion.<br/>
Really a pity he was such a rich boy asshole.<br/>
Baekhyun knew about it because Chanyeol was one of the most gossiped rich people in Seoul and Baekhyun, heavens bless, still read newspapers and internet editorials.<br/>
"Park, it's been a while" he replied gesturing toward him with his head and tapping send on the phone before locking the screen and putting it away.<br/>
"What do you do in your life?" Chanyeol asked him and Baekhyun hummed softly.<br/>
"I'm a photo reporter. I photograph different situations around the world and write articles about them" he replied, gesturing toward the bartender ordering another glass of wine.<br/>
Chanyeol scrunched his nose.<br/>
"Such an adventure filled life" he commented but Baekhyun didn't mind so much about his comment.<br/>
What could come by someone as rich and as spoiled as Chanyeol?<br/>
"And you?" he asked him and Chanyeol beamed at him starting to explain why he and his life was successful, openly bragging about every small success or thing he did in his life until then. <br/>
Baekhyun listened to him in silence, mostly for politeness than any other thing.<br/>
He kept listening for a while but then he shook his head softly.<br/>
He couldn't stand all those bullshits. <br/>
He already had enough after five minutes.<br/>
Baekhyun regretted accepting Jondae's invitation, wondering if it wouldn’t be better to be on his couch, drinking fine French wine and watching some murder tv fiction on Netflix.<br/>
"You know, it's nice and all but... Do you realize that the whole world is not revolving around your business, right?" he finally asked him and Chanyeol shut up immediately, staring at him perplexed.<br/>
"What do you mean?" he inquired and Baekhyun sighed softly, thanking the bartender for the wine.<br/>
"Nothing. Just thinking about how your world is so small, made of futile achievements and making you unable to see that the world is totally different and absolutely not... This" he whispered, shaking his head before sipping his wine and memories of when he visited India and Afghanistan came to him like a slap.<br/>
War and poor people at every corner of the streets, thieves were the rulers of mostly abandoned cities.<br/>
Or again when he went to Indonesia to document the first hospital out of nowhere that saved hundreds of lives.<br/>
Or when he went to Japan to testify the changes that were happening in Okinawa.<br/>
He shook his head again, tiredly.<br/>
It wasn’t certainly Chanyeol’s fault if he never exited Korea and if he didn’t have the chance to witness how the world was outside there.<br/>
"I'm..." he started saying clearly wanting to apologize about his words, but Chanyeol stopped him.<br/>
"I don't think your life is any better if you want to know" he stated and Baekhyun's eyes went wider in surprise.<br/>
"Pardon me?" he whispered sure that he misheard what Chanyeol said.<br/>
"You go around the world taking photos? What kind of life it is?" he asked and Baekhyun cringed, shaking his head not wanting to face this discourse again with someone who didn't even know him.<br/>
Didn’t know a single thing of how his world change in those years that they didn’t see each other.<br/>
A thing about how Baekhyun’s world was turning to a different time and speed of his.<br/>
"It was nice to see you again, Park. Have a nice evening" he replied drinking off all his glass, standing up and starting to walk away when Chanyeol stood up and spoke again.<br/>
"Does the truth hurt?" he asked him and Baekhyun never turned around as fast.<br/>
He walked back to Chanyeol entering his personal space, pointing his index finger at him.<br/>
Baekhyun knew that Chanyeol’s words shouldn’t weight that much but seeing him again and finally realizing how he was changed in those years, kind of hurt him.<br/>
He made him realize how neither Seoul was the right place for him to stay.<br/>
Rejected again from people who in the past cared about him and now knew nothing about him.<br/>
"You know nothing about the world. You spit judgment on people and fact without even knowing what it's really happening outside here. You bring yourself on a crystal pedestal, dispensing advice on how to be successful and handsome as you are, convinced that this is the only thing that matters in this life. I won't let my evening be spoiled by your self-centered ego" he whispered, pulling at his necktie to have him at his eye level.<br/>
"You are only a spoiled brat" he concluded walking away.<br/>
He was fuming and he felt like he could explode and slap him.<br/>
"You didn’t have this idea last time we talked" Chanyeol stated and Baekhyun gave him the middle finger before exiting the building.<br/>
He walked toward the parking lot, lightening up a cigarette.<br/>
How many things changed since he moved out to the States?<br/>
He had a nice relationship with Chanyeol.<br/>
They were childhood friends and they were maybe... Boyfriends?<br/>
They never gave a title to their relationship, but they shared kisses and had sex regularly.<br/>
They were exclusive with each other not seeing nor having any other romantic nor sexual relation with other people in the meantime.<br/>
And they were both desperate when Baekhyun's parents decided to move out and forced their sons to go away with them.<br/>
Baekhyun didn't had any choice.<br/>
They promised to write to each other, to keep in touch and to visit when it would be possible.<br/>
Baekhyun promised him to go back to Korea as soon as possible.<br/>
But when Baekhyun moved out, Chanyeol never wrote him.<br/>
He took days to reply to Baekhyun's messages and Baekhyun, who was younger but not stupid, understood that something was out.<br/>
Instead of facing the subject, he let them drift apart, probably fearing a rejection if he would ever face that argument, and then they simply stopped writing to each other.<br/>
And almost six months after last contact with Chanyeol, Chanyeol himself called Baekhyun, clearly drunk and unable to process more than five words straight, accusing him of having abandoned him and not caring anymore about them.<br/>
Baekhyun took everything he had to say until Chanyeol fell asleep and he closed the call.<br/>
The next day he received a message from him.<br/>
"Forget about yesterday and forget about us. I need to move on from you".<br/>
And even if Baekhyun knew it already, he cried his teenager heart out of it for days before things started to seem right again.<br/>
Not that he really ever forgot about Chanyeol.<br/>
He simply started to cope and to accept Chanyeol’s refusal and how much Baekhyun missed him.<br/>
Baekhyun still longed for the same type of relationship he had with Chanyeol and he never was able to replicate with any of his friends or occasional partners.<br/>
So he simply started to have only sex partners, more than relationship, leaving his feelings drowning in fine wine late at night.<br/>
He smoked in silence until his car and then he sighed softly, carding his fingers through his hair.<br/>
A sharp pain went through his right shoulder where he got stabbed two weeks ago during his last reportage in Colombia.<br/>
It wasn't anything serious and he would produce a real and fine article on drugs cartel over there, but still earn himself a new scar.<br/>
Nothing new for his work that brought him also to abandon that small musical career he still had when he was younger.<br/>
But this brought him to write the very first article on Colombia’s drug cartel written in Korea from a Korean reporter.<br/>
Junmyeon was overjoyed by it, already feeling another prize incoming for Baekhyun.<br/>
He also was worried about Baekhyun’s health, but Baekhyun was pretty convincing in pretending it was less hurtful than it seemed.<br/>
Baekhyun unlocked his car doors and heard someone calling him from the other side of the parking.<br/>
"Baek, you are already going home?" Jondae almost shouted at him and Baekhyun nodded shortly.<br/>
"Jet lag is still having the best of me. Colombia is not exactly behind the corner and tomorrow I have a press conference" he replied and Jondae nodded softly.<br/>
"I'm sorry, I didn't think Park would be here" he stated and Baekhyun smiled at him, easing his friend.<br/>
"He's just airs. No worries, it has been, what, eleven years already? Relax" he said snorting and shaking his head.<br/>
Jondae smiled softly, seemingly more relaxed than before.<br/>
"You got even tougher in these last years" he whispered and Baekhyun shook his head.<br/>
"Life is always happening. Even when we stare away" he replied making Jondae snort.<br/>
"Ya, reporter, don't pull out such an effect sentence and then go home" he stated but Baekhyun shook his head.<br/>
"I'll stay in Korea for a while now. I have some things going on and an old acquaintance of mine told me about some project to help orphanages and I want to go and write something about it too. So, see you around?" he concluded and Jondae nodded smiling at him.<br/>
"Thanks for coming. See ya" he greeted him and Baekhyun waived at him sitting in his car and driving away.<br/>
He knew what he said to Jondae but he knew also that it wasn't exactly the truth.<br/>
He still missed the period he was slightly more than friends with Chanyeol.<br/>
And Chanyeol became even more handsome during the years.<br/>
Seeing him without any reason, out of the blue, surprised Baekhyun.<br/>
But he also knew that they were different people and life happened to both of them in the meantime, making them two different people compared to years before.<br/>
Two people so different that they couldn’t even stay anymore in the same room apparently without arguing.<br/>
Baekhyun drove until home and once there he sat on the couch, sighing.<br/>
In few months more he wouldn't be in Korea anymore and in few more days Chanyeol would have been only a bittersweet memory.</p><p>At least this is what Baekhyun hoped for, but life had other plans for him.<br/>
Press conference was unexpectedly great and he got several offers for different jobs and other reports.<br/>
Junmyeon was ecstatic and started organizing a venue with the best of Baekhyun's photographs taken around the world.<br/>
As if this wasn’t sufficient, Zhang Yixing, Baekhyun's guide when he went in the Sichuan area, came to Seoul to open a new house for orphan children.<br/>
He asked Baekhyun to write something about it, promoting their cause and his project, and to visit them when he will be back to Korea.<br/>
Baekhyun was more than happy to help him out with promoting the realization and success of his orphanage, so went to see him not a week later than his return to Seoul.<br/>
Yixing was a tall, slender man with dark hair and eyes and deep dimples on his cheeks.<br/>
His Korean was really good even if it was marked with a strong Chinese accent.<br/>
"Baek! Such a surprise! When did you come back?" he asked him when Baekhyun went to the orphanage to visit him.<br/>
Baekhyun smiled softly, hugging him and patting his shoulder.<br/>
"Still so grateful for what you did for me in China. I owe you a big debt" he replied but Yixing shook his head.<br/>
"It was a pleasure helping you and meeting such a wonderful person. You are very noble and your work is helping my country realizing what it's happening in Sichuan better. And now you also will help me with my new project" he stated making Baekhyun frown.<br/>
"Come on, Xing. It was the least I could do for you. You know that I am glad to help and this new project you are doing in all the Asian countries is beautiful! I wanted to promote it even before you asked" he replied and Yixing smiled at him, showing better his dimples.<br/>
"Nice to hear you say it. Won't we go?" he concluded opening the door of his office and starting to show Baekhyun around.<br/>
Baekhyun had his camera with him and a small recorder for registering every single word Yixing would say and that he would later edit and adapt to write the article.<br/>
Yixing explained him how Seoul Charity Institute was not the only one in Asia.<br/>
He started in the past from a similar institute in Beijing before opening another one in the Sichuan area.<br/>
Yixing was a rich man and his fortune came from centuries before since even his ancestor were notable in Chinese history.<br/>
Part of the funds for opening the Institutes came directly from his own fortune and the rest came from donations.<br/>
He was happy to open an Institute also in Seoul because he loved Korea and he thought that the place needed to feel the importance of his project too.<br/>
Seoul Charity Institute already had more than eighty small inhabitants followed by almost twenty different teachers and another thirty persons of staff like housekeepers, cooks, secretaries and so on.<br/>
Kids were happy there because they were able, not only to eat every day and have somewhere to sleep, but because they were able to attend schools and to play various sports and activities.<br/>
They had a baseball field and a circuit for track and field activities.<br/>
Furthermore, they had extra personnel coming to help kids learning domestic economy, cooking, sewing and so on.<br/>
There were also clubs to attend and they promoted the union and cooperation between kids.<br/>
Yixing was very happy about the results he was having from Seoul Institute, but Korean people were a little skeptical about the actual necessity of an orphanage in Seoul, so they weren't exactly supportive.<br/>
Baekhyun was perplexed but kind of understood the point being the reasoning.<br/>
Silver lining was: Seoul is a rich and flourishing city, so it can't be possible that we need an orphanage.<br/>
Because everyone is well-being so why should someone abandon his own child?<br/>
"We forget that the brightest the light shines, the darkest is the shadow that it casts" Baekhyun whispered taking some photos of the interior of the orphanage and Yixing hummed near him.<br/>
"There can't be light without shadow. And we must accept both and maintain an equilibrium between them. But it's easier to forget" Yixing replied making Baekhyun shook his head.<br/>
"It's not about forgetting. It's about pretending not to see" he whispered again thinking at how many people totally ignored the problems just for the sake of it.<br/>
It was a problem only if you acknowledge its existence. If someone negates the mere existence of the problem, the problem wasn't a problem anymore.<br/>
Yixing sighed again, shaking his head.<br/>
"Our kids need this help and we managed to keep it up only thanks to some... Consistent donations" he added and Baekhyun frowned softly but Yixing gestured with his head toward the end of the corridor where his secretary was talking with no one else but Park Chanyeol.<br/>
Baekhyun sighed, shaking his head too and moving his hand toward Yixing.<br/>
"Thanks for your time, Xing. I'll make you read the article before I publish it so that there is something more that you want to add..." he started immediately aching to leave the place.<br/>
He didn’t want to meet with Chanyeol and have another scene like that evening at the reunion party.<br/>
At least not in front of Yixing.<br/>
Yixing nodded softly, shaking his hand.<br/>
"Thanks, Baek, I owe you" he replied and in that very moment Chanyeol noticed their presence.<br/>
Chanyeol started walking toward them greeting Yixing with a small gesture of his hand.<br/>
"Mr. Zhang such a pleasure seeing you again" he greeted even if his stare went immediately to Baekhyun. <br/>
"Mr. Park, thank you for your continuous and kind support. We appreciate your help and what you are doing for our Institute" Yixing replied and immediately introduced them. <br/>
"Mr. Park this is my long-time friend and reporter Byun Baekhyun. He will write an article about the importance of our cause" he added and Chanyeol smiled toward Baekhyun in such a fake way that it almost crept the hell out of Baekhyun. <br/>
He had shivers down his spine, nodding toward Chanyeol and forcing his best smile. <br/>
"I'm afraid that me and Mr. Park already met, Xing. No need to introduce us" he stated and Yixing frowned shortly. <br/>
"I didn't know you had friends in Seoul's high society" Yixing commented making both Baekhyun and Chanyeol snort. <br/>
"Friends?" they both asked him and immediately added: "Enemies you would say". <br/>
Baekhyun shook his head annoyed.<br/>
How could someone as stupidly rich and pretentious be his (boy)friend from high school?! <br/>
Yixing frowned perplexed.<br/>
"It's not easy to antagonize yourself with Baek..." he whispered and Chanyeol frowned softly before shaking his head, clearly disagreeing with Yixing’s words.<br/>
"With such an idealistic, insurgent and chauvinist reporter?" Chanyeol retorted making Baekhyun whistle in appreciation. <br/>
"I didn't know you knew all these difficult words. You studied? Good boy" he replied making Chanyeol frown and shake his head.<br/>
"You still are such an obnoxious socialist with your mediocre working-class ideals" Chanyeol attacked him again and Baekhyun laughed briefly. <br/>
"Sure, better than your detestable fake righteousness. Why are you here for exactly? Advertising Park's next electoral campaign? Or maybe you asked some journalist to follow you to give them a beautiful scoop on how philanthropic, charitable and benevolent is Park Chanyeol, self-made businessman and idol de la crème of Seoul?” he retorted, spouting his words like venom.<br/>
He hated how Chanyeol, and all those people like Chanyeol, used charity acts or humanity actions just to make commoners speak about them.<br/>
Chanyeol feigned way too well his indignation.<br/>
“I don’t know how you can think something so cruel, Baekhyun. I’m just interested in these kids’ future and want them to have a possibility more in their lives” he said and if Baekhyun didn’t know any different, he could almost believe at him.<br/>
However, he shook his head, chuckling.<br/>
“I think it’s better remaining courteous and ending it here, Park, before we both give our worst for those paparazzi outside here. So, won’t you simply pretend we didn’t meet today and walk away with Xing speaking of how much your precious money are helping these unfortunate kids?” he asked him, feigned his best smile and Chanyeol clicked his tongue, stare shifting toward Yixing.<br/>
“Very well, Mr. Zhang. Let’s go for our weekly tour” he concluded and they both nodded walking away.<br/>
Baekhyun sighed softly, shaking again his head.<br/>
He exited the Institute, putting his mask on.<br/>
Springtime in Korea that time wasn’t particularly clement with him, giving him the worst pollen allergy in the last three years.<br/>
He didn’t know why so suddenly but he kind of feel like shit and meeting Chanyeol didn’t help him at all.<br/>
He simply wanted to go home and lay down on his couch but Junmyeon called him.<br/>
“Baek, where are you? Ready for tomorrow?” he asked him but Baekhyun frowned softly, not knowing at all what he was talking about.<br/>
“Tomorrow?” he echoed perplexed and trying to remember if he was forgetting something.<br/>
“Tomorrow! Your venue! You have to be there, you promised me! I can’t open your exhibit without you!” he declared and Baekhyun sighed deeply suddenly understanding what Junmyeon was hinting to.<br/>
“Myeon, I’m amidst the worst pollen allergy of the last three or five years, I can’t come like this tomorrow” he replied sniffling but Junmyeon was unmoving.<br/>
“You have to. Take all the antihistaminic you may need but you have to come tomorrow. At eight pm. Don’t be late” he concluded, hanging up and Baekhyun sighed deeply.<br/>
How in the world could he go to that exhibit if he was feeling like that and he couldn’t almost breath for how much his nose felt stuffed.<br/>
He stopped on a minimart and bought every single thing that could be effective against pollen allergy, before going home and preparing himself an ochatzuke.<br/>
He loved it so much that he asked the family that lived near him if they could teach him how to prepare it.<br/>
Baekhyun ate in silence, reading some news online and then took the antihistaminic and went to sleep, trying not to think once again at how much Seoul was small, making him meet again Chanyeol.<br/>
Was it a sign of the universe that Baekhyun wasn’t taking or simple coincidence?</p><p><br/>
The evening after, he felt definitely better than before but still wasn’t at his best.<br/>
He didn’t leave his house if not to go to the exhibit.<br/>
Baekhyun dressed up nicely, even if he didn’t like it, taking out of the closet his best suit.<br/>
Satin blue, with a black shirt underneath it and Baekhyun was sure to be on point.<br/>
He put on some make-up too, completing with eyeliner, another thing he didn’t put on since last time he was in Korea.<br/>
But Junmyeon called him several times to make sure that he would be charming and stunning.<br/>
No idea on why, but Junmyeon was the only editor that still didn’t freak out at Baekhyun impossible rhythms and stakhanovite attitude, so Baekhyun had to hear him at least in these small things.<br/>
When he arrived at the venue, Junmyeon was already there and was so pleased with Baekhyun’s work on himself that didn’t quit complimenting him.<br/>
“You know, I invited like everyone tonight. Everybody will talk about your exhibit tonight both on Twitter and Facebook. I’ve already started the hashtag: #apicforacountry” he stated and Baekhyun sighed softly.<br/>
He didn’t care less about hashtags or social medias, but he wanted to know more about everyone that was invited to the exhibit.<br/>
“You mean you invited also people of…” he started and Junmyeon nodded.<br/>
“Starting from your old friend Kim Jondae, passing through popular actor and talented dancer, finishing with Seoul most loved businessman Park Chanyeol” he stated and Baekhyun wanted to flee the scene immediately.<br/>
“Was it necessary?” he asked him and Junmyeon nodded again.<br/>
“Baek, honey, if you want to be successful in life, you also need the right connections” he replied and Baekhyun sighed, ignoring the surname that Junmyeon used only when he was sure that Baekhyun didn’t understand anything about business or social rules in Seoul.<br/>
He didn’t want anything.<br/>
Nor the successful life nor the connections.<br/>
He simply wanted his work to be recognized as useful and to actually make people realize what was happening in the rest of the world.<br/>
He sighed deeply praying all the gods and universal deities that he wouldn’t meet Chanyeol that evening and if he would meet him, that he had enough strength not to make a fuss about it.<br/>
Guests started to arrive and Baekhyun received the order from Junmyeon to greet all of them at the entrance.<br/>
He met a lot of people that congratulate him about heavens know what and he simply thanked them politely.<br/>
And he met also known faces like Jondae and Minseok.<br/>
Jondae congratulated him at least hundred times before proceeding on inside the exhibit.<br/>
And then it was obviously Chanyeol’s turn.<br/>
He entered in the building dressed as a stunning as the most fabulous and attractive scion Baekhyun ever saw in his life.<br/>
Crimson red complimented his whole carnation and golden hair oh so much and Chanyeol knew it oh so well, seeing how he was smirking, walking confidently in the hall.<br/>
“Park” he greeted him and Chanyeol smiled at him.<br/>
“Baekhyun, it’s such a pleasure. Last time I didn’t manage to properly reply to you about certain questions…” he started and Baekhyun forced his most candid smile.<br/>
“Actually, I would appreciate a truce? At least for tonight? I will overlook your detestable self and you will keep up with mine for few hours” he proposed try to remember how much work Junmyeon put into that and to make that exhibit goes as he wanted to.<br/>
Chanyeol seemed perplexed but then he shook his head.<br/>
“What I get from this?” he replied and Baekhyun cringed shortly at the proposal.<br/>
“That I don’t speak with you all the evening and we don’t actually know each other?” he tried but Chanyeol shook his head, putting his hand on his chest, stare hurt fixed on Baekhyun.<br/>
“You hurt me, Baekhyun. I really would like your company for this evening. And we know each other pretty well, so will you cut it with the surname?” he asked him and Baekhyun couldn’t imagine any worst scenario.<br/>
But he was doing it for Junmyeon.<br/>
He sighed softly, nodding.<br/>
“Sure, Chanyeol, let me escort you then” he concluded, showing him the way and earning himself another smirk from Chanyeol.<br/>
They walked around the exhibit, slowly, with Chanyeol stopping every now and then to look better to some photographs instead of others.<br/>
He seemed almost interested in what he was seeing.<br/>
“Where did you take this?” he asked Baekhyun pointing toward a black and white photo of what remained of a beautiful building.<br/>
“Kabul. Almost three years ago. I think that that building is not there anymore” he whispered, smiling tiredly.<br/>
He remembered that evening, that mushy hot that kept creeping inside his bones more than simply his clothes and how everything seemed to be dead around them.<br/>
Only some buildings were still up and with the sun setting, all the panorama seemed to be even more desolated.<br/>
“Why?” Chanyeol asked him innocently and Baekhyun sighed, this time not in exasperation but in sadness.<br/>
“Because of the war. They attack the place where people gather the most, like school, religious spots or museums” he whispered again, slightly pulling at his sleeve revealing an old scar near the wrist.<br/>
“A grenade splinter when I was going back to the refuge. I saw the school crumbling with my own eyes and helped every single living or not person out of it” he added, pulling it down again, before walking away again.<br/>
Chanyeol didn’t reply anything and walked near him in silence.<br/>
“And this?” he asked again, this time pointing to a happier photo.<br/>
It was taken in one of the biggest salt pans in the world.<br/>
“Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia. Love this moment to bits. I also asked my guide if he could take a photo of me in the middle of this blue” he replied softly, smile genuinely forming on his lips and taking out his phone from his pocket, looking for the picture and showing it to Chanyeol.<br/>
“This one” he added and Chanyeol stared at his phone, fingers slightly touching Baekhyun’s hand to near the phone toward him.<br/>
“Beautiful” he whispered and Baekhyun’s eyes went wider in surprise.<br/>
He wouldn’t even imagine hearing again Chanyeol’s pronouncing that word.<br/>
Chanyeol always called him beautiful when they were together during high school.<br/>
Obviously in that moment Chanyeol wasn’t referring to him but at the panorama, but still it made Baekhyun almost blush.<br/>
But Chanyeol surely didn’t remember it.<br/>
He was only his own bittersweet memory.<br/>
“Sure. Sky and earth merge together in the same color and extend until you can’t see the end” he concluded, locking his phone screen and putting it away.<br/>
Chanyeol hummed softly.<br/>
“So, you don’t have only heart-wrecking stories” he commented and Baekhyun nodded briefly.<br/>
“I have a lot. My work is not only telling disasters and tragedies…” he started, walking toward the other end of the room and pointing at a photograph.<br/>
In that picture there was him, almost unrecognizable for how much thinner and soiled he was, with an old Brazil soccer team t-shirt with at least twenty boys and girls, around an improvised soccer playground.<br/>
“Brazil, two winters ago. They welcomed me like I was part of their families. I found more affection and caring in that place where they had nothing than in my own family” he explained, smiling softly at the memories.<br/>
Chanyeol smiled at him too.<br/>
“You have seen so many stories around the world…” he started and Baekhyun shook his head.<br/>
“After all, I just go around the world taking photos, no?” he concluded, smiling bitterly toward Chanyeol.<br/>
And Chanyeol wanted to tell him something but Junmyeon called Baekhyun, attracting his attention.<br/>
“Baek, didn’t I tell you not to…” he started but then he saw that he was with Chanyeol and stopped mid-sentence.<br/>
“Oh, Mr. Park, nice to see you here. Are you enjoying yourself? Are you staying also for our inaugural banquet?” he asked him and Chanyeol’s stare went to Baekhyun who stared at him perplexed.<br/>
“If for Baekhyun…” he started but Baekhyun nodded shortly.<br/>
“No reason why you shouldn’t stay, Chanyeol. You are more than welcomed here” he replied, faking another smile and his tone so well that he almost convinced himself too.<br/>
Chanyeol nodded too.<br/>
“I’ll gladly accept the invitation then” he stated and Junmyeon beamed at them.<br/>
“So honored to have you here, Mr. Park, thank you for attending Baek’s exhibit” he concluded before going away and walking toward other guests.<br/>
Baekhyun forced another smile toward Chanyeol.<br/>
“Now, if you want to excuse me and want to walk around a while more waiting for the banquet to start, I’ll go greet some other guests too” he whispered and Chanyeol nodded softly.<br/>
“Thanks for showing me around a bit” he replied, making Baekhyun shook his head.<br/>
“No need to thank me. These are only part of my memories, nothing more” he concluded walking away.<br/>
Baekhyun had to be more careful.<br/>
Chanyeol was fascinating and clever.<br/>
He knew what game he was playing.<br/>
And he didn’t want to mix up things, nor to follow his same game.<br/>
He just wanted everything to go smoothly and start his next work, forgetting again about Park Chanyeol.<br/>
He talked a bit with different guests, mainly with Jondae and then he had a small speech before opening the banquet.<br/>
Everything was sparkling and Junmyeon made things super bigger and super elegant.<br/>
Baekhyun felt completely out of his own natural habitat but he tried his best to adapt for Junmyeon’s sake.<br/>
And everything seemed to be going fine and Baekhyun almost thought that he would end his evening without any accidents, but the as per usual Chanyeol had to say something out of place.<br/>
He was almost insulting, with kind and pleasant words obviously, Jondae and his lifestyle, based on his mediocre middle-classed status.<br/>
Baekhyun couldn’t stay silent and simply ignore what he was saying.<br/>
“Don’t you dare” Baekhyun hissed, interrupting him and Chanyeol arched his eyebrow, smirking.<br/>
“Or else?” he asked and Baekhyun really, really, tried his best not to react but Chanyeol’s face really irritated him.<br/>
“Don’t. And that’s it. You are a major jerk. Don’t forget how you were before reaching this status you claim you have” he whispered and when Chanyeol tried to say something, Baekhyun interrupted him, pulling at his necktie.<br/>
“You are the worst in the world. You forgot where you are coming from, you forgot how things were when you were only a mediocre middle-classed son. How are your parents feeling about the asshole you became?” he asked him and Chanyeol pushed him away, slapping his hand away.<br/>
“You are the worst. Don’t you dare pulling my parents into this!” he exclaimed, attracting the other people’s attention on what was happening between them.<br/>
“Why shouldn’t I? They were oh so proud of you when we were younger. That you would take your father’s small paper industry, succeeding his work and taking his inheritance. And what then? You sold everything, right? Every last inch of their property” he stated shaking his head and feeling once again the betrayal he felt one day several years before, coming home from the first time when he transferred to the States and knowing that Park Industries were sold and didn’t existed anymore.<br/>
At its place there was Park Corporate Ltd. and Chanyeol had excluded all his other family members from it.<br/>
“You know nothing about it, Baekhyun. What should I say about you and your parents who went following the American dream and ended up having nothing, way less that what they had here?” Chanyeol asked him and Baekhyun stared back at him, perplexed.<br/>
“Why do you even care about my parents? They reaped what they sowed and they got what they deserved for making wrong choices” he spat out, shaking his head but Chanyeol didn’t reply to that question.<br/>
Instead, he attacked again Baekhyun.<br/>
“Is that why you started travelling around the world, like a homeless beggar?” he asked him and Baekhyun slapped him, making the sound resonate in all the room.<br/>
He felt angry with Chanyeol because he didn’t know a thing about him and still he judged him.<br/>
“You crossed the line. And I really wanted to think that you were better than I expected and of what I read on the pages of newspapers. But you are even worse. Thank you for proving me right, once more” he whispered before walking away and exiting the exhibit.<br/>
He typed a short I’m sorry to Junmyeon and stood in the street, hoping to find a taxi.<br/>
But not a single one came his way so he started walking toward the metro station.<br/>
In a minute, he felt a hand pulling at his arm, making him turn.<br/>
“Baekhyun!” Chanyeol called him but Baekhyun jerked his arm away from him.<br/>
“What do you want?” he asked him and Chanyeol shook his head briefly.<br/>
“I shouldn’t have… I…” he started but Baekhyun clicked his tongue.<br/>
“Go away. I don’t have time to waste with such a colossal jerk as you are” he stated, turning again but Chanyeol grabbed his arm again forcing him to turn around and face him again.<br/>
“You know nothing” he declared before leaning him and kissing him.<br/>
It wasn’t delicate nor sweet.<br/>
It was hurried but wanting and Baekhyun felt the anger he had inside exploding, biting Chanyeol’s lips, making him gasp just to kiss him harder back, fingers carding through his hair, pulling not so gracefully.<br/>
“I hate you so much” Baekhyun whispered in between the kiss and Chanyeol hummed in thought.<br/>
“I can’t stand you either” he replied and Baekhyun pulled harder Chanyeol’s hair, kissing him breathless.<br/>
“Come home with me” Chanyeol whispered to Baekhyun who chuckled shaking his head.<br/>
“I think you don’t get it” he replied pushing him away and stopping a taxi that was arriving in their direction.<br/>
“Forget about that. And about me. It would be better if we never met again” he concluded taking the taxi and driving away.<br/>
Baekhyun sighed softly telling the driver his address, messing his hair up, back relaxing on the seat.<br/>
He made a mistake.<br/>
And it wasn’t arguing with Chanyeol nor slapping him in front of at least eighty persons.<br/>
It was kissing him.<br/>
He should have pushed Chanyeol away, slapped him once again but instead he kissed him back, letting that nostalgic perfume mixed with now expensive cologne having the best of him and bringing him back to when they were still in high school.<br/>
Chanyeol was dangerous and not for his economical power or his richness, but for the effects he had on Baekhyun.<br/>
And Baekhyun wanted to avoid him for the rest of his life again.</p><p><br/>
The next day, Baekhyun was woken up by a phone call from Junmyeon.<br/>
He was still in dreamland, totally unknowing of everything when he received the call.<br/>
“Hello?” he muttered, voice still half asleep and unable to process what was happening around him.<br/>
“Baek, oh heavens, please switch your tv on the news” Junmyeon ordered him and Baekhyun frowned but didn’t questioned, sitting up and walking until the living room where he took the remote, switching on the tv on the news channel.<br/>
It seemed that national self-made business man Park Chanyeol had a very swollen cheek and a cut on his bottom lip that morning, and he was telling the news how he was lucky to finally have settled things with one of his worst enemy in the world of information and how he managed to snatch a possibility to being interview by Baekhyun himself.<br/>
Baekhyun was incredulous.<br/>
Unbelieving.<br/>
And not trusting his ears.<br/>
“Myeon… is he saying that I said I was fine with writing an article on him and how his contribute to Seoul’s society is important if not fundamental?” he asked Junmyeon and the man on the other side of the call, confirmed it to him.<br/>
Before Baekhyun could tell anything to comment all of this, Chanyeol stated also that, after the previous night’s events, Baekhyun owed him an interview or an article since the swollen cheek was his fault.<br/>
“I hate him, Myeon. He’s such a faker and a liar and…” he started but Junmyeon on the other end started to try and relax him.<br/>
“Baek, you really slapped him yesterday…” he said but Baekhyun exploded, voice raising suddenly.<br/>
“He called me a homeless beggar!” he exclaimed and Junmyeon gasped in surprise.<br/>
“Sorry if I kind of feel offended by these words” Baekhyun continued, pushing his fingers through his hair and shaking his head.<br/>
“Still, he’s saying that you granted him an interview on national tv. It’s not like you can refuse now” Junmyeon made him notice and Baekhyun knew it oh so well.<br/>
“That’s why I hate him!” he exclaimed again, turning off the television and throwing the remote on the couch.<br/>
“If he contacts you, please tell me. And give him my work number” he added definitely pissed off.<br/>
Who in the world Chanyeol thought he was?<br/>
And surely he didn’t know who he was meddling with.<br/>
Baekhyun wasn’t type of letting things like that flow by without any further implication.<br/>
Chanyeol wanted war?<br/>
And war he would have.<br/>
Maybe it was kind of petty of Baekhyun, but he wouldn’t let that slip.<br/>
“And… if not urgent, I’ll stay in Korea for a while. Or did you have something on your mind already?” he asked Junmyeon who hummed in thoughts.<br/>
“No, well nothing for the moment if not that trip to Iran for that old traditional family who made musical instruments?” he tried to remember and Baekhyun sighed.<br/>
“Well, it has been on your desk for two years now. Can’t it wait a while more?” he asked back and Junmyeon hummed, this time worried.<br/>
“Fine, but please don’t put yourself into trouble. Mr. Park is an influent man” he whispered and Baekhyun sighed again.<br/>
“No need to worry. I’m not afraid of a man who have to resume to lies to speak directly with me” he concluded and thanked him again before hanging up.<br/>
Whatever it would come from that interview with Chanyeol, could change the whole future of Park Corporation Ltd.</p><p><br/>
The Call arrived almost five days later, while Baekhyun was drinking with Jondae in a bar near Gangnam.<br/>
It was late in the evening, almost eleven, and the weather was getting hotter, season slowly changing to summer.<br/>
“Byun speaking, how can I help?” he replied seeing the unknown caller ID.<br/>
“Mr. Byun, sorry for bothering you this late in the evening but Mr. Park requires your attendance tomorrow at his breakfast” a manly voice stated from the other end of the call and Baekhyun frowned.<br/>
That sentence was so weird under so many points that he couldn’t even start processing how wrong it sounded in his ears.<br/>
“And when or where exactly Mr. Park has his breakfast?” he asked back trying to contain his sarcasm.<br/>
“At ten at Twinkle” he replied and Baekhyun whistled in appreciation.<br/>
Twinkle was one of the most in cafés in all Seoul.<br/>
“Perfect. At ten. Tell Mr. Park I’ll be there” he concluded before hanging up and staring toward Jondae who frowned, shaking his head.<br/>
“Where I have to send help tomorrow at ten?” he asked Baekhyun who laughed shortly, shaking his head.<br/>
“This is my I’m really, really sorry for slapping you in front of eighty people interview so I have to behave. Even if I have all the intentions to ruin him with written words, after. You know what they say, no? It hurts more pen than sword?” he replied but Jondae sighed deeply.<br/>
“Baek, please be reasonable. Park is really an influent man. He can ruin you if he wants to” he stated but Baekhyun shook his head again.<br/>
“I travelled the world risking my life in almost every place I went to. It won’t be someone as Park to refrain me to do my work. And if he doesn’t have anything to hide, he doesn’t have anything to worry about. I won’t write untrue things on him. Only the truth” he stated and Jondae hummed in thought even if he wasn’t too convinced about Baekhyun’s words.<br/>
He stayed a while more with Jondae speaking about nothings and how the world moved in Seoul, and what happened to people they both knew.<br/>
Not that Baekhyun actually cared about it, since Seoul was still an unknown place with unknown rules for him but Jondae was at ease and that was the important thing to Baekhyun.<br/>
The day after, on time as he probably never was before, he opened Twinkle’s doors at ten o’clock.<br/>
He dressed up a bit, being Twinkle a place where only rich people went and the idea of going there with his hoodie, old jeans and snapback was no good at all.<br/>
So, he put on a silver shirt with rolled up sleeves, black jeans, styled his hair and left home the glasses opting for contact lens.<br/>
“Hyunnie?” a girl voice called him when he entered the café and he turned just to met Taeyeon, a friend of high school before Baekhyun transferred to States.<br/>
“Yeon?” he asked back, perplexed and she beamed at him, exiting from behind the counter to grip Baekhyun’s hands.<br/>
“Oh heavens, I can’t believe it! Byun Baekhyun in flesh and bones! I thought you still were around the world!” she almost shouted and Baekhyun smiled at her, gripping back her hands.<br/>
Kim Taeyeon was the only person, except Jondae, with who Baekhyun maintained contact also after he transferred.<br/>
They were friends in a lot of senses and he could tell in some ways he loved her.<br/>
She was pretty, funny, pleasant to be around and most of all open minded.<br/>
She didn’t judge him when he told her he was gay.<br/>
Or neither when he told her that he wanted to be a photo reporter, travelling around the world.<br/>
“Yeon, missed you so much. I thought you were still studying in Osaka?” he asked her who shook her head softly, smile a little bit forced on her face.<br/>
“No, no I’m almost getting married. Can’t be fooling around anymore?” she replied and Baekhyun’s stare widened in surprise.<br/>
“Marrying?” he echoed perplexed and she sighed, nodding briefly.<br/>
“It was… time? My parents waited long enough and I’m getting old” she whispered but Baekhyun shook his head.<br/>
“Don’t be stupid, Yeon. You are still so beautiful” he commented voice almost a whisper, care tinting his tone, and she smiled softly, this time more naturally.<br/>
“And you are still too out of this world and its rules that still lead this place. I’m almost in my thirty, Hyunnie. I can’t delay it any longer” she muttered and Baekhyun wanted to comment again, but she shook her head.<br/>
“Let’s speak about it somewhere else, maybe in front of a beer one of these evenings?” she asked him who smiled softly nodding shortly.<br/>
She fixed her hair behind her ear before asking him what he was doing so well dressed in a place like Twinkle.<br/>
Baekhyun sighed softly, attracting her perplexed stare.<br/>
“I have to meet with an old, unrequited acquaintance. Park is already here?” he asked her, stare shifting to look around the café without seeing him, and she gasped in surprise.<br/>
“You still have something with Park?” she asked him perplexed and he shook immediately his head.<br/>
“No, no, absolutely no. Just an interview for an article. We can’t… stand each other, actually?” he explained smiling apologetically and she shook her head, inhaling deeply.<br/>
“You won’t ever change, Hyunnie. Let me escort you to Park’s table then” she concluded and he nodded shortly.<br/>
Chanyeol at one of the farther in tables of the café.<br/>
He smiled softly toward Taeyeon but his smile transformed in a smirk when he saw that Baekhyun was with her.<br/>
“Tae, you bring me the first problem of the day with that sweet smile of yours?” he stated charmingly toward her and she shook her head, softly.<br/>
“He will be all of your problems if you underestimate him, Park. Hyunnie can fend for himself pretty well, for what I remember” she concluded, patting Baekhyun’s shoulder and walking away.<br/>
“She’s such a difficult catch” Chanyeol commented looking at her walking away and Baekhyun snapped his fingers in front of him, irritated.<br/>
“Not for nothing, but she’s my friend. You should rinse your mouth before speaking about her” he spat out, sitting in front of Chanyeol, who laughed briefly.<br/>
“Calm down, Baekhyun. It wasn’t anything vulgar or…” he started but Baekhyun shook his head, pulling out his small recorder.<br/>
“Would we cut it short, Park? Since you called me here to, what was it, apologize for slapping you?” he asked him and Chanyeol chuckled softly, shaking his head.<br/>
“Come on, don’t be so on the defensive. It was your fault, after all” he objected and Baekhyun had to force himself to shut up.<br/>
“Still…” he started again but Taeyeon arrived with the menus.<br/>
“Please take your time ordering” she said softly, smiling toward them.<br/>
“Thank you, Yeon” Baekhyun smiled at her and she tilt softly her head on the side.<br/>
“Don’t mention it, Hyunnie” Taeyeon concluded walking away and Baekhyun had once again to snap his fingers in front of Chanyeol to regain his attention.<br/>
“Her ass is…” Chanyeol started and Baekhyun huffed.<br/>
“Please, contain yourself. I repeat, she’s my friend and she’s almost marrying. Don’t go around making more trouble than you already do” he whispered and Chanyeol shook his head.<br/>
“Usually people are attracted to me. Only her and you make an exception” he stated and Baekhyun chuckled.<br/>
“We are not friends for nothing, Park. We know how to fend for people like you” Baekhyun explained softly and Chanyeol shook his head.<br/>
“Actually, you are quite different. I’ve never touched Tae, while with you, well, we both know how it was” he replied, smirking and Baekhyun sighed softly, shaking his head.<br/>
“You weren’t this bad when we were friends during high school” he noted opening the menu and focusing his stare on it but without actually reading what was written.<br/>
He couldn’t believe how lightly Chanyeol treated what for him still was something precious that ended in the wrong way.<br/>
And maybe, despite his words, Chanyeol was that bad during high school but Baekhyun never realized it.<br/>
Chanyeol wanted to add something but Baekhyun shifted immediately the subject of the discourse.<br/>
“So, why do you want me to interview you? What story do you have to tell?” he asked him, this time staring directly at him in the eyes, pushing away all the feelings and keeping only his professional self.<br/>
Chanyeol shook his head softly.<br/>
“You are a quite known reported, Baekhyun. And if you write a pleasant article on me, something even better can come with it” he stated but Baekhyun shook his head.<br/>
“I think you don’t understand how things work here, Park. You tell me something, I decide if it’s worth my time or not and then I decided whether to write an article on it” he stated and Chanyeol chuckled.<br/>
“Yeah, yeah, sure let’s do it your way, reporter” he concluded and in that moment Taeyeon came back to take their order.<br/>
“Dark, medium roasted. And those matcha pancakes with strawberries” Baekhyun asked her and she nodded softly, smiling at him while Chanyeol order a whole shopping list of the sweetest things on the menu.<br/>
Baekhyun was dumbfounded but Taeyeon seemed to be unfazed by it.<br/>
It meant that it wasn’t the first time.<br/>
“Thanks for your order, I’ll be right back” she concluded walking away again and Baekhyun sighed, stare shifting again toward Chanyeol.<br/>
“So?” he asked him and Chanyeol smiled.<br/>
“Can’t you guess why I called you here?” he asked back and Baekhyun sighed again.<br/>
“Obviously. Being the egocentric asshole you are, I suppose you want to talk about how you became so popular and so rich starting for something mediocre as middle-class rural industry your parents had” he started and Chanyeol laughed briefly, nodding.<br/>
“You still know me so well” he commented and Baekhyun snorted, shaking his head.<br/>
“I would have hope for something different. I prayed all last night for it to be different, but no… I wasn’t mistaking” he whispered earning another chuckle from Chanyeol.<br/>
“No need to be so overdramatic, Baekhyun” he concluded and Baekhyun sighed again before taking the recorder and starting fiddling with it.<br/>
“Well then. You want to tell me your story about how you became part of Seoul’s aristocracy and super rich? Please, me and my recorder are here to listen to you” he stated and Chanyeol nodded softly, starting to tell his story.<br/>
After almost two hours, four coffees and a lot of sweets later, Baekhyun was sure that maybe the one percent of what Chanyeol told him was the truth.<br/>
Unfortunately for both of them, Baekhyun still knew Chanyeol pretty well and Chanyeol still had a lot of weird antics and way of speaking when he was lying that Baekhyun didn’t even have to ask himself if he was right or not, because he knew he was.<br/>
At the end of the story, Baekhyun turned off the recording device and sighed softly, staring at Chanyeol.<br/>
“This is your version of what happened in these years?” he asked him briefly and Chanyeol nodded softly, making Baekhyun sigh briefly.<br/>
“Let’s see next week. I’ll tell you where and when” he stated, making Chanyeol frown.<br/>
“I’m a reporter Chanyeol and I have to inform myself before I can write something. So, see you next week” he concluded, pulling out his wallet from his pocket.<br/>
Chanyeol tried to stop him, but Baekhyun shook his head.<br/>
“I don’t want debts with you” he declared walking away and paying his own part at the cashier.<br/>
Taeyeon was busy on another table so he simply waived softly at her, who greeted him back with a small gesture of her head.<br/>
Out of the café, Baekhyun inhaled deeply before setting his professional self in again.<br/>
Chanyeol told him that his parents almost begged him to sell their industry and making something anew with what he earnt from the selling.<br/>
However, Baekhyun felt like something was missing.<br/>
He remembered Chanyeol’s parents as two completely hardworking people and he was sure that they would never ask him to sell their small industry.<br/>
So, what really happened?<br/>
Was it only Chanyeol’s greed which served to illegitimately take property of the industry only for selling it or there was something else behind that matter?<br/>
He went to the local library and searched old articles on the selling.<br/>
It seemed that Chanyeol took property not illegitimately but legally with his parents’ presence and signature no more than two months after he finished high school and sold the property no more than eight months after.<br/>
Definitely fishy.<br/>
Park Corporation Ltd. opened eleven months after on the ashes of Park Industries.<br/>
With public funding.<br/>
Even fishier.<br/>
What happened after Chanyeol’s graduation and before Park Corporation’s establishment?<br/>
Park Chanyeol had more hidden skeletons than he could actually wanted to make people think.<br/>
Baekhyun looked further in, coming to know that Chanyeol’s father killed himself at one year of Park Corporation’s establishment, while his mother was hospitalized in a private clinic since then.<br/>
No info about Chanyeol’s sister, Yoora.<br/>
Baekhyun hummed in thought, walking out of the library and lighting up a cigarette.<br/>
There was definitely something that wasn’t exactly legal in all that story.<br/>
Baekhyun’s instinct suggested him or illegal loans or mafia doing.<br/>
He didn’t know if before Park Corporation or after it.<br/>
Even if those public funds suggested before Park Corporation.<br/>
Who of them was at fault then?<br/>
Chanyeol’s father?<br/>
Or Chanyeol himself?<br/>
Or maybe his sister who disappeared in thin air?<br/>
Baekhyun sighed before composing Sehun’s phone number.<br/>
Sehun was still Chanyeol’s friend even if their social status was different now.<br/>
Sehun was the only one Chanyeol didn’t pushed away when he became rich and snobby.<br/>
“Sehunnie, Baekhyun here. May I have a moment of your time?” he asked him when he replied the phone and Sehun was perplexed but happy to hear him.<br/>
“May I help you in something?” he asked back and Baekhyun hummed.<br/>
“Yes, I hope so, actually. Do you remember anything about the summer of your graduation?” he asked him and Sehun let out a small laugh.<br/>
“I was permanently drunk but not so much to completely forget everything happened, hyung. What do you need to know?” he added and Baekhyun chuckled softly.<br/>
“Do you remember Yoora, Chanyeol’s sister? Was she around that summer?” he asked him and Sehun hummed in thought.<br/>
“Now that you make me think about it… no? I mean, she said she would be back to help around their parents but she never came home that summer. I think I saw her only at their father’s funeral?” he whispered and Baekhyun hummed in thought too.<br/>
So Yoora never went home that summer.<br/>
She knew nothing or she knew everything?<br/>
“Hyung, why these questions about Yoora and the Parks? Is something happening?” Sehun asked him but Baekhyun shook his head before easing him.<br/>
“No worries, Sehunnie. Just catching up with everything happened while I wasn’t here?” he replied and Sehun chuckled.<br/>
“Whenever you want, then” he concluded and after few more pleasantries, Baekhyun hanged up.<br/>
He sat in his car, pulling the security belt.<br/>
Time to speak with Chanyeol’s mother.</p><p><br/>
The clinic where Chanyeol’s mother was hospitalized wasn’t anything Baekhyun could actually think of.<br/>
It was more like a yearly small hotel where a lot of elderly people still wealthy went to spend the last years of their lives.<br/>
Baekhyun was stopped at the entrance because he didn’t have the permission to enter since he wasn’t anyone’s relative.<br/>
He was a bit discouraged and he was almost going away when someone called him from the main hall.<br/>
“Baekhyunnie?” Chanyeol’s mother called him and he beamed at her, finding her strangely fine even if aged.<br/>
“Auntie!” he exclaimed seeing her and she walked toward him, slowly but steady.<br/>
“How many years it has been?” she asked him and making a gesture toward the attendant in the entrance to let him enter.<br/>
“Almost twelve, I suppose” he replied following her toward what seemed to be like a bar or restaurant zone.<br/>
They sat on a table and she smiled at him.<br/>
“You grew up such a fine man. It’s a pleasure to see you fine” she told him and Baekhyun smiled softly, tilting his head.<br/>
“I can say the same, auntie. Still so young” he replied making her chuckle.<br/>
“Since when my husband passed away, I’m not the same woman anymore” she whispered and Baekhyun frowned shortly.<br/>
“I heard about it… I was so sad when I heard it” he muttered and she sighed deeply.<br/>
“Chanyeollie never actually recovered from it. It was a difficult time for us, you know?” she started to say and Baekhyun frowned again.<br/>
“Difficult? Something happened?” he asked feigning ignorance on the matter.<br/>
“Chanyeollie didn’t tell you? We had to declare bankrupt with the old company because there were problems with our financial reports. I never understood a thing about them but my husband and Chanyeol took all the choices for what was happening” she whispered shaking her head and Baekhyun hummed in thought.<br/>
“Which… problems there were?” he asked her again feigning ignorance but she shook her head once more.<br/>
“I don’t know. But Chanyeollie helped us out so much and it’ only thank to him that I can be here and enjoy my last years of life” she added and Baekhyun nodded smiling toward her.<br/>
“That’s really nice of him, no?” he asked her, voice softer, and she smiled wider, offering him a cup of tea.<br/>
Baekhyun accepted just because he was polite, but that tea seemed to be extra sweet.<br/>
And it was.<br/>
“And what about noona? How is she?” Baekhyun asked her but she got darker suddenly shaking her head.<br/>
“Yoora never comes here. She forgot about the fact we are her family. Especially after she had her daughter” she replied hatefully, making Baekhyun flinch.<br/>
He didn’t know about Yoora having a daughter and Chanyeol’s mom always loved Yoora.<br/>
What happened?<br/>
“She had a daughter?” he asked perplexed and the woman clicked her tongue, shaking her head.<br/>
“She should be around ten years now, yes” she replied and Baekhyun hummed in thought, feeling like some puzzle pieces were starting to fit in slowly.<br/>
“And what about Yeol? How was these last years?” he asked her who beamed at him, immediately relieved by the change of subject.<br/>
“Chanyeollie is my angel, Baekhyunnie. He always comes to see me, he paid for everything here and he lifted not only our industries but also our name. I couldn’t be prouder of my son” she stated and Baekhyun smiled softly.<br/>
Chanyeol was an impeccable son.<br/>
An amazing entrepreneur.<br/>
He had the right hunch for saving his family’s pride and company.<br/>
Yet, he became a superior asshole, hated and dreaded by many and not only for his economic power.<br/>
He entered waltzing from the main door into the very core of Seoul’s aristocracy and made his name notable everywhere.<br/>
Where was the truth?<br/>
What matched with the Chanyeol he was friend with during high school?<br/>
The soft, cute guitar and baseball player?<br/>
The one that called him beautiful tenderly at night, before, during and after embracing him?<br/>
Baekhyun forced those memories away again and smiled at Chanyeol’s mother.<br/>
“He missed you so much, Baekhyunnie. And he completely changed after you went away. I remember the hours you spent in your garage, you remember too? The one you transformed in a darkroom to make prints of your photos. Are you still a photographer, Baekhyunnie?” she asked him and Baekhyun smiled softly, nodding.<br/>
He remembered way too well the amount of hours they spent in his garage, sometimes Chanyeol really helping him with his photos and sometimes only going to make out with him or to tease him.<br/>
And he missed that times a lot too.<br/>
Who knew where all the photos he took of Chanyeol went after he moved to the States?<br/>
Maybe they were still in that garage he rented out near where he lived?<br/>
“We kind of drifted apart during these years?” he whispered and the woman nodded briefly.<br/>
“It’s understandable since the distance, but now that you are here again, maybe you could hang out with him again and making him exit a bit, not only focusing on his work?” she asked him and Baekhyun smiled nodding shortly.<br/>
“Sure, it would be my pleasure” he concluded and checked at his wristwatch, seeing that it was almost two.<br/>
“Auntie, I’ve to go now. I’ve an important appointment with my editor for something I’m writing” he stated and she nodded softly.<br/>
“Come again whenever you want. I’m always here” she concluded and Baekhyun nodded before bowing toward her and walking out, not without waiving again toward her.<br/>
Letting alone that he knew that Chanyeol suffered a little bit from their separation, Baekhyun finally knew why Yoora didn’t come back that summer.<br/>
She was pregnant.<br/>
He had to find her and ask her what happened, if she had any relevance in the whole matter.<br/>
Chanyeol’s mother didn’t know anything about the bankrupt and told him that everything was managed by her deceased husband and by Chanyeol.<br/>
Yoora did have any implication in this or not?<br/>
He sat in his car again, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply, fingers carding through his hair.<br/>
That mention to the past relationship between him and Chanyeol made him feel weak inside.<br/>
He still longed for those moment and finding this abyssal discrepancy between Chanyeol in his memories and how Chanyeol actually became, hurt him deeply.<br/>
Chanyeol in his memories would have never done things like insulting people for their social extraction.<br/>
Or call him a homeless beggar.<br/>
Baekhyun sighed, lighting up a cigarette and turning on the car engine.<br/>
Whatever it would be, past was in the past and Chanyeol wasn’t the same person anymore.<br/>
No need to cry on what wasn’t anymore.<br/>
He drove until the other end of the city just to met Junmyeon and, apart of apologizing again for what he did at his own exhibit, defining the last details for his article about Bolivia.<br/>
He didn’t have time to time about Chanyeol or other things like that.<br/>
Time to focus on his article and on his work.</p><p><br/>
Everything went fine with Junmyeon and the article would be out in few days.<br/>
Baekhyun drove home, ready to develop the photos he took when he went to Yixing, but he decided to phone Chanyeol’s agent before starting doing so.<br/>
“I’m Byun, we spoke yesterday” he started and the man on the other line hummed affirmatively.<br/>
“I would like to speak with Park directly if possible” he asked and the man put him on hold before Chanyeol’s voice showed up again on the line.<br/>
“Baekhyun?” he asked him and Baekhyun replied softly.<br/>
“Yeah. What about next week at Exodus, that bar in Bucheon, near where we lived?” he stated and he literally heard Chanyeol frowning.<br/>
“Bucheon? It’s been ages since…” he started and Baekhyun stopped him immediately.<br/>
“This time my terms” he declared and Chanyeol hummed in thought.<br/>
“Sure. Let’s see there Wednesday next week” he concluded and Baekhyun confirmed.<br/>
“And I’ll give you my direct number, so you don’t have to call again my agent” Chanyeol added and Baekhyun nodded, writing down the number Chanyeol told him.<br/>
“See you next week then” Baekhyun concluded and was about to hang up when Chanyeol stopped him.<br/>
“Wait” he called him and Baekhyun waited in silence for him to speak again.<br/>
“How long will you stay in Seoul this time?” he asked him and Baekhyun hummed pensively.<br/>
“I suppose few months? Later on, I have a report on an Iranian rare musical instrument” he replied making Chanyeol chuckle.<br/>
“Rare musical instrument?” he echoed and Baekhyun snorted too.<br/>
“For how much he could seems strange, yes” he replied and Chanyeol chuckled again.<br/>
“You still have a soft spot for music?” he asked him and Baekhyun sighed briefly.<br/>
“I have. I’ve learnt to play a bit of almost everything, including glass harmonica, wheel harp and Hang Drum” he replied and Chanyeol stayed silent for a moment.<br/>
“What in the world is a wheel harp?” he asked him and Baekhyun smiled.<br/>
“A mystical instrument, with an eerie sound. Love it” he replied laughing and Chanyeol was even more perplexed.<br/>
“I tried also glass harmonica but kind of get on my nerves? I prefer accordion and hurdy-gurdy if you ever played them” he continued and he heard again Chanyeol chuckle, this time softer, reminding him of how he was during high school.<br/>
Happy and carefree.<br/>
Baekhyun smiled softly too, nostalgic feeling spreading also to him.<br/>
“How many instruments do you play?” Chanyeol asked him, amused and Baekhyun hummed in thought.<br/>
“Only the uncommon ones. Don’t give me a guitar because I wouldn’t know where to start from? And piano only a classic piano because electrical things make me unsure?” he replied and this time along Chanyeol let out a full laugh.<br/>
“Also taiko?” he asked him and Baekhyun let out a small laugh too.<br/>
“That one was one of the very first I learnt” he replied immediately and for a moment he couldn’t believe it they were talking like that, easily and lightly, when no more than a week before they couldn’t even be in the same room.<br/>
And neither that morning at Twinkle actually, since in more than an occasion, Baekhyun would have slapped him.<br/>
“How we ended up speaking of musical instruments?” he asked and Chanyeol hummed in thought.<br/>
“Your next report on some old instrument?” he tried to remember and Baekhyun nodded briefly.<br/>
“Yeah it’s a sort of hammered dulcimer but produced in Iran and Arabic areas? Quite different but equally interesting” Baekhyun concluded and there was a small silence before Baekhyun could sigh softly.<br/>
“I have to go now, Park. Time to work a bit on some projects and develop some photos” he added and he heard Chanyeol sigh on the other end of the line.<br/>
The instinct came before everything else.<br/>
“Are you okay?” he asked him, voice concerned and he really was.<br/>
“Will you ever call me by first name again?” Chanyeol asked back to him without replying to his question.<br/>
“Why is it so important to you? We are strangers now and you know better than me…” he started but Chanyeol stopped him mid-sentence.<br/>
“You are putting these boundaries, Baekhyun” he stated but Baekhyun sighed too.<br/>
“Life changed us. We are not the same we were almost twelve years ago. You became something I can’t recognize anymore, and I became something it’s not in your interest anymore. We simply met again for some… fate plays” he objected, shrugging his shoulders and it was clear that Chanyeol wanted to add something more but there was a sound in the background.<br/>
“I’ve to go too now. Next week, nine at Exodus” he concluded before hanging up and Baekhyun sighed softly staring at the phone.<br/>
He missed old Chanyeol.<br/>
He missed him so much, especially when he entered his darkroom and lighting up the red lights, he had a flashback of when they were younger.</p><p><br/>
Twelve years before<br/>
“Would you close the door? It’s already improvised as it is, I don’t want to ruin the photos I took of you. Once in a while, maybe you looked good” Baekhyun said to Chanyeol that was just entered in his garage, leaving partly the door opened.<br/>
“Yeah, yeah sorry, Mr. professional photographer” he replied making Baekhyun huff while he was working with the photo sensible papers and chemicals.<br/>
“You don’t have to stay here if you…” Baekhyun started saying but Chanyeol was immediately sitting at his side, observing what he was doing.<br/>
Baekhyun smiled softly, immerging the paper in the chemicals.<br/>
Like magic, the paper started revealing shapes and colors forming Chanyeol’s figure posing for him, sitting on the sofa in his living room, hair a bit messy and grey sweater on.<br/>
“I hope you will never publish these photos” Chanyeol whispered softly making Baekhyun chuckle.<br/>
“Why not? You look stunning, especially in that one” he replied, gesturing a photograph he already developed and that was hanging to dry.<br/>
It was one of the few he could manage to take before they ended up having sex again.<br/>
Chanyeol had only his orange checked sweater and boxers on and he was as dashing soft yet sexy as only him could be.<br/>
One of hundred reasons why Baekhyun loved him and loved to take photos of him.<br/>
“Especially that one! It was a private moment!” he complained but Baekhyun shook his head softly.<br/>
“You could be a model, Yeol. Stop complaining you are gorgeous and I won’t publish them anywhere because I don’t want other to see you like that” he tried to ease him but Chanyeol kissed his cheek briefly.<br/>
“You are the beautiful one, Baek. So stunning and so talented” he added and Baekhyun blushed, hanging another photo before turning toward Chanyeol and gently kiss him on the lips.<br/>
“Apart for double checking I won’t do anything strange with these photos, did you come here for any other reason or…?” Baekhyun asked him, hugging him softly and Chanyeol kissed the top of his head.<br/>
“Tomorrow my parent will go away. Want to… do something together?” Chanyeol asked him and Baekhyun nodded softly.<br/>
“It would be great… I miss you” he added and Chanyeol hummed in consent.<br/>
“I miss you too, babe. So what do you say? It’s no more than few hours but…” he started and Baekhyun nodded.<br/>
“It will be fine” he concluded kissed him again.</p><p><br/>
Baekhyun sighed, pushed away again the flashback, trying to focus on what he had to do and the photos of Yixing’s Institute.<br/>
He didn’t particularly needed memories of those days.<br/>
Past moments that would never come back again.<br/>
Chanyeol changed during those years and if there was the faintest possibility to regain some kind of friendship with him before Baekhyun came back to Korea and met him again, in that moment became impossible.<br/>
They belonged to two different worlds that were too far apart from each other to coexist once again in their relationship.<br/>
Baekhyun tried to focus his thoughts on those pictures, trying to mentally structure an article that could help Yixing promote his Institute, but his mind constantly came back at the story that Chanyeol’s mother told him.<br/>
How was it possible that Yoora disappeared in nothing with a daughter?<br/>
And Chanyeol didn’t even mentioned her?<br/>
Next interview he had to mention her only to understand if and how much she could be related to that matter.<br/>
For how much he remembered, Chanyeol loved his sister.<br/>
They used to have a nice relationship between brother and sister.<br/>
So why not even talk about her?<br/>
Something must be happened in the past and Baekhyun was more than intentioned to know what it was.</p><p><br/>
During the week before meeting Chanyeol once again, Baekhyun didn’t stop investigating on what happened to Park Industries before they declared bankrupt and became Park Corporation.<br/>
The public funds came from an old agreement between Park family and the Institution for Seoul redevelopment.<br/>
Big words for nothing.<br/>
Baekhyun knew that those funds weren’t as legal as they could seem because the Institution for Seoul Redevelopment closed down in the early nineties when they were still child.<br/>
So where exactly those funds came from?<br/>
As if this wasn’t already fishy enough, Baekhyun met Taeyeon for a beer out as promised.<br/>
The evening was nice.<br/>
She still was funny as she always was and Baekhyun enjoyed her company.<br/>
They talked about journeys and how Taeyeon wanted to travel more than she did in those years, but her family almost forced her to marry with an old friend from middle school who was, without any doubt a great and honest person, but plain and boring as fuck.<br/>
They didn’t have anything in common and Taeyeon was already fearing the years to come.<br/>
“Can’t you, I don’t know, stop this marriage? Do you have to marry even if you don’t want to?” he asked her and she smiled softly, nodding.<br/>
“I don’t have any other choice, Hyunnie. My parents are getting old and they want to see me married and happy” she replied making Baekhyun frown.<br/>
“But this doesn’t make you happy” he retorted, almost whining, and she chuckled softly.<br/>
“Still better than Park’s sister. After what happened to her, I’m more than fine with an arranged marriage” she stated and Baekhyun’s frown got deeper.<br/>
“Yoora? What about her?” he asked Taeyeon whose eyes grew larger in perplexity.<br/>
“Don’t you know? Everyone knows about it. It was a big scandal at that time!” she retorted astonished that Baekhyun didn’t know anything about it.<br/>
He shrugged his shoulder.<br/>
“I was away almost all my life… I don’t like Seoul’s gossip so much” he commented, shrugging his shoulders, and she hummed in thought before emptying her glass.<br/>
“She was really unlucky you know? She had an affair with one of her father’s employee who was already married. And when she discovered that she was pregnant, her parents wanted her to have an abortion. But she refused and she fleeted from home. Her father was really quick in firing the man and disowning his own daughter” she stated and Baekhyun hummed in thought.<br/>
So Yoora was pregnant of a married man that was employed in Park Industries.<br/>
And for keeping her baby, she went away from home?<br/>
Something sounded fishy.<br/>
Yoora was studying far from home those years.<br/>
How could she have a relationship with a man that worked so distant from her?<br/>
And she didn’t come back to town that Summer so… what was Baekhyun missing?<br/>
“Are you sure it was with a man of Park Industries?” Baekhyun asked Taeyeon who nodded decisively.<br/>
“It was on all the news and Park’s son was the first one to push for this news to be generally recognized” she answered and Baekhyun chuckled briefly.<br/>
Even more fishy.<br/>
If Chanyeol pushed so hard for it to be approved.<br/>
And was it before or after that he knew that they weren’t going well with Park Industries?<br/>
Before or after he founded Park Corporation?<br/>
Taeyeon frown softly.<br/>
“Hyunnie, what are you thinking of?” she asked him and Baekhyun shook his head briefly.<br/>
“Too many fishy things in Parks’ story, Yeon. Including this thing about Yoora. She wasn’t a stupid girl and she would never remain pregnant of a married man, especially working for her father” he whispered and Taeyeon hummed shortly.<br/>
“Love makes you do strange things…” she started but Baekhyun shook his head again.<br/>
“Not this strange. And it was strange per se the idea that both Park and his father pushed so much for it to be globally accepted as the truth. I mean, why building a scandal so big?” he asked her but in the same moment he posed the question, he knew also the answer.<br/>
Because a scandal this big would cover something even bigger.<br/>
They used Yoora’s pregnancy as scapegoat.<br/>
But to cover… what?<br/>
“Never mind, my usual messy thoughts” he whispered, smiling at her and immediately asking her if she kept in touch with Yoora or knew someone who still had any means to contact her.<br/>
Taeyeon frowned, humming in thought.<br/>
“Maybe Jongin?” she whispered and Baekhyun clicked his tongue at the mention of their old neighbor.<br/>
Kim Jongin was a big asshole who was always being rich and never had a single problem in all his life.<br/>
He was spoiled as few and Baekhyun felt his skin itching at the only idea of speaking with him.<br/>
“And if you want don’t want to speak with him, I suggest you to speak with Soo” she added and Baekhyun beamed at her.<br/>
“Soo? How is he? Oh heavens, I think it’s like… twelve years since last time?” he asked her and she smiled softly nodding.<br/>
“He’s good. Do you want his number? I think he will be happy to hear from you!” she replied, making Baekhyun smile too and nodding shortly.<br/>
They stayed together a while more and then they parted ways, promising to see each other again.<br/>
All that story started to take a weird note.<br/>
If before Baekhyun thought that there was something fishy, now he was sure that all was made to cover something bigger than Yoora’s pregnancy and even the birth of Park Corporation.<br/>
He couldn’t quite get exactly what, but he was sure it wasn’t something as banal and stupid as it could seem from outside on the surface.<br/>
The day after he phoned Kyungsoo to schedule with him an appointment.<br/>
Do Kyungsoo was one of his and Taeyeon’s school classmate.<br/>
Really clever and kind even if a bit timid and silent.<br/>
Baekhyun once even protected him from some bullies that wanted to shave his head for no reason.<br/>
“This is Do, how can I help you?” Kyungsoo’s voice replied softly from the other end of the phone and Baekhyun thought that nothing was changed for a minute since high school.<br/>
Flashbacks from high school came in once again supplying him of snap-shots of their years together, fitting in Chanyeol, Jondae, Sehun, Taeyeon and Juhyun.<br/>
“Uhm, Soo? It’s me, Baek” he whispered and for a moment there was only silence and he thought that Kyungsoo ended the call, not recognizing him or the voice.<br/>
“Baek? You mean Byun Baekhyun?” Kyungsoo asked back and his voice was trembling.<br/>
Baekhyun replied affirmatively and there was a gasp from the other end.<br/>
“Baek! How many years! I almost didn’t recognize your voice! How are you?” he asked him and Baekhyun smiled softly before replying.<br/>
“Eleven? And I’m back to Seoul for a while so I wanted to meet back with some old friends. Yeon gave me your number, hope it doesn’t bother you?” he started but Kyungsoo was more than glad to hear about him.<br/>
“Bother me? Why? I’m glad to know that you are back and safe. Do you want to meet up? Maybe next weekend?” he asked him and Baekhyun hummed in thought.<br/>
Next weekend would mean after his meeting with Chanyeol.<br/>
But he didn’t want to force things.<br/>
So he would have just to fix another meeting with Chanyeol after that one and meeting Kyungsoo in between, hoping to find his reply.<br/>
“Sure! Where do you want to meet?” he asked him and Kyungsoo hummed in thought.<br/>
“At Twinkle for twelve? If you are fine for a brunch?” he asked back and Baekhyun frowned shortly.<br/>
Kyungsoo wasn’t the type of Twinkle or of brunch.<br/>
How life changed him during those years?<br/>
“Fine by me. See you there on Friday?” he concluded and Kyungsoo accepted.<br/>
They exchange some more words and then Baekhyun hanged up.<br/>
He didn’t ask Taeyeon why Kyungsoo knew Jongin so well.<br/>
But now that Kyungsoo proposed him Twinkle and brunch, he kind of suspected something.<br/>
Maybe boyfriends?<br/>
Baekhyun sighed, opening his fridge and pulling out a bottle of wine, pouring himself a glass.<br/>
Hold your horses, Byun, you are not working. This is just a meeting with old friends – he told himself, lighting up a cigarette and smoking in silence in his kitchen and trying to fit in all the small pieces.</p><p><br/>
The day of the meeting with Chanyeol, he went earlier to Bucheon just to check if the garage box he rented was still there and nobody entered it or tried to force in.<br/>
Not that there was so much to steal but mainly Baekhyun’s memories.<br/>
The only things he managed to save before his parents sold everything, including their old house and Baekhyun’s wannabe-darkroom garage.<br/>
On the outside the box was untouched so maybe also the things on the inside were safe.<br/>
Baekhyun opened it, finding way less than he remembered.<br/>
No more that five card-board boxes and some old photography equipment.<br/>
He crouched down in front of the boxes opening one up and finding all his old photos and negatives.<br/>
They were unbelievably in good condition, so maybe he did a good job when he had to preserve them.<br/>
He was about to close it up again to put them in the car boot, but something caught his attention.<br/>
It was that picture of his flashback of some days before.<br/>
Chanyeol was so young and so soft in that picture, and Baekhyun loved that orange sweater.<br/>
He kind of stole it every time, liking the softness of the fabric and how it had Chanyeol’s same perfume.<br/>
Baekhyun could remember the moment in the photo like it was yesterday.<br/>
They were at Baekhyun’s, in his room and Baekhyun was stressing Chanyeol over letting him take some pictures.<br/>
Chanyeol in the end said that he was okay but didn’t know what to do or how to pose for them so Baekhyun gave him the best advise possible.<br/>
“Think of something you love. Something that make you feel good?” he suggested him and Chanyeol blushed showing Baekhyun one of the prettiest smiles he ever saw in his life, even at some many years of distance.<br/>
And that was the only picture he took that afternoon because after that, he only managed to let himself go to Chanyeol’s kisses and touches.<br/>
Baekhyun sighed deeply putting the picture away and closing again the box, before picking two of them up and load them in the car.<br/>
He put every box away but for the equipment he had to come back another time.<br/>
With the car full of memories, he drove to Exodus.<br/>
When Baekhyun arrived, a whole lot of other memories hit him strongly.<br/>
He kind of missed that place and all the winter afternoons they studied there, drinking cinnamon cocoa and eating mint biscuits.<br/>
Baekhyun pushed the door open and the same woman of twelve years ago, greeted him from behind the counter, before fully recognize him.<br/>
“Are you Baekkie? Like Byun’s son?” she asked him surprised and he nodded shortly.<br/>
“Oh dear lords, look at you! You became such a fine man!” she added and Baekhyun blushed softly, shaking his head.<br/>
“You remember me as a teenager, auntie” he complained but she shook her head, patting in front of her on the counter and pushing the menu toward him.<br/>
“Always excuse you guys. You look beautiful, Baekkie. Cope with it” she concluded and he snorted nodding shortly.<br/>
“Thanks. And you will be even more perplexed today. I’m waiting another old acquaintance” he added making her curious.<br/>
And they didn’t have to wait much longer before Chanyeol in all his aristocracy snobbishness entered in Exodus.<br/>
He had long navy-blue trench and red trousers that fitted him perfectly, exalting his figure.<br/>
Obviously letting alone his perfectly styled golden hair.<br/>
A sparkling prince.<br/>
“Baekhyun” he greeted him with a small gesture of his hand and even before Baekhyun could reply, the woman behind the counter recognized him too.<br/>
“Yeollie? Park’s son?” she asked him once again incredulous and he nodded briefly, sitting near Baekhyun at the counter.<br/>
“Oh, heavens, you too became such a handsome boy” she commented and Chanyeol chuckled, nodding.<br/>
“You can say it, auntie” he retorted, making Baekhyun huff in exasperation.<br/>
He could kill someone with that much confidence.<br/>
They ordered something and Baekhyun waited for the woman to walk away to speak with Chanyeol.<br/>
“Last time I didn’t even ask you how your family is going. Everyone is fine? How’s Yoora?” he asked him and Chanyeol hummed softly.<br/>
“My father died some years ago and my mom now is retiring in an Institute for elder people so she’s not alone. And Yoora… She’s fine too” he replied and Baekhyun frowned briefly.<br/>
“I’m sorry to hear about your father” he whispered but Chanyeol shook his head.<br/>
“We are the choices we make. And he didn’t make the right choices” he replied, making Baekhyun frowning even more.<br/>
“What do you mean?” he asked him and Chanyeol inhaled briefly.<br/>
“Why did you invite me here, Baekhyun?” he asked back and Baekhyun hummed in thought.<br/>
“Hearing the rest of the story. What you didn’t tell me last time” he replied honestly and Chanyeol chuckled shaking his head.<br/>
“You couldn’t simply accept that one, right?” he inquired this time making Baekhyun shook his head.<br/>
“You forgot what kind of job I do, Park. It’s my work to discover the truth behind facades and counterfeit truths. As I do it in wars, historical controversies and political matters, I do it also for this” he replied honestly and Chanyeol shook his head softly.<br/>
“What if I’m not fine with you sticking your nose around?” he retorted and Baekhyun made a small gesture toward the woman behind the counter asking her if it was fine for him smoking inside.<br/>
When she gave him her okay, Baekhyun lighted up a cigarette, inhaling deeply, before stretching to take the ashtray.<br/>
“I don’t give a fuck, actually. You asked him to tell the world a story, your story. And I will. But I don’t tell lies. And neither half-truths” he replied, shrugging his shoulders and Chanyeol frowned shortly.<br/>
“So why are we here? Do you expect me to… what exactly?” he asked him and Baekhyun hummed in thought, puffing out another breath of smoke.<br/>
“Tell me the truth? About how Park Industries became magically Park Corporation. Or about Yoora and her daughter. Your choice where to start from” he replied deciding to play with part of his cards on full display.<br/>
He wouldn’t get to anywhere if he continued to play hide and seek with Chanyeol.<br/>
So if he wanted real replies from Chanyeol, he had to ask directly and see what would happen.<br/>
Chanyeol chuckled shortly.<br/>
“I see you made your research already” he whispered and Baekhyun nodded briefly.<br/>
“I’m no amateur in this” he concluded, stomping the cigarette butt in the ashtray.<br/>
Chanyeol hummed in thought too.<br/>
“Well, you are quite wrong if you think that I didn’t do any research on you either” Chanyeol stated and Baekhyun chuckled softly, even if he was a bit surprised.<br/>
“Oh, shoot. I’m curious to know what you found out about me, or my family that I wouldn’t tell you myself willingly” he added and Chanyeol nodded.<br/>
“Do you want me to start from the fact that your father is in prison for fraud? Or that your mother took everything and went away from you, your father and your brother?” he started and Baekhyun forced a small smile.<br/>
“You did your homework, good boy” Baekhyun noted, nodding shortly and thanking with a gesture of his hand the woman that served them their orders.<br/>
Chanyeol slightly bowed, smirk present on his lips.<br/>
“And it doesn’t end here” he added pouring honey on his pancakes and Baekhyun drank a sip of his coffee interested.<br/>
“Please then. Enlighten me” he whispered before lighting up another cigarette and staring at Chanyeol, waiting for other things he discovered about Baekhyun.<br/>
“You barely finished high school, didn’t go to university. Your first work for a pornographic magazine. Then you started with war reports. How was it to shift from porn to war?” he asked him and Baekhyun chuckled softly, breathing more smoke.<br/>
“You should inform yourself better, Park. It wasn’t simple porn. It was a gay magazine. I founded it with my neighbor while we were looking for a stable work. He’s still director of that magazine. I moved to war report just because it was my very first idea of work and because I wanted to put photography at common service” he started explaining before pushing again the cigarette in the ashtray and starting to eat his omelet.<br/>
Chanyeol was about to comment but Baekhyun spoke up again.<br/>
“Still sometimes I work with him for some services to increase homosexual visibility in American panorama” he added smiling toward Chanyeol that raised his eyebrow perplexed.<br/>
“I think you wanted to avoid speaking of these matters?” he whispered but Baekhyun chuckled again before eating another bite of omelet.<br/>
“Why should I? It’s part of me and what I am. It was a case that me and Jackie met, but what came out was something that helped a lot of boys understanding and accepting their homosexuality, to live peacefully and without stress their sexuality. I’m not ashamed of what I did” he replied, shrugging his shoulders.<br/>
And it was the truth.<br/>
Because if he could turn back time, he would do the same things he did.<br/>
“And did you also have sex with Jackie?” Chanyeol asked him again and Baekhyun frowned softly.<br/>
“Does it matter?” he retorted staring toward Chanyeol that stopped eating for a moment before nodding briefly.<br/>
“To me, yes” he replied and Baekhyun clicked his tongue, suddenly irritated.<br/>
Chanyeol wanted to make him feel like it was Baekhyun’s fault if things didn’t go well between them.<br/>
“Don’t give me this crap, Park. It doesn’t matter if and with who I had sex with. It’s not your business from almost eleven years now” he replied harshly, finishing his food and lighting up another cigarette.<br/>
“It was a difficult moment and you still didn’t reply to my question” Chanyeol noted making Baekhyun sigh in exhaustion.<br/>
“I did. He was… hot. And it was only sex, no feeling no nothing” he replied and Chanyeol shook his head briefly.<br/>
Even before Baekhyun could comment his reaction, Chanyeol added again: “do you still do it?”.<br/>
Baekhyun sighed again, shaking his head too.<br/>
“Why are we speaking of this…?” he asked him but Chanyeol simply repeated him the question.<br/>
“No, I don’t, okay?” he replied in the end, puffing out a breath of smoke.<br/>
“What’s even the point in this question? It’s not like he was my only sexual partner in all these years. I lived away from here twelve years, you know? It’s not like the time froze and restart when I set again foot in Korea” he whispered, drinking his coffee and Chanyeol shook his head.<br/>
“Obviously not” he commented briefly and Baekhyun huffed shortly.<br/>
“Don’t play this game with me, Park. Because I really don’t want to know what you did in all these years” he stated and when Chanyeol made the gesture to shake his head, Baekhyun stopped him immediately.<br/>
“I don’t want to know. Last week with Yeon is enough to make think of how you behaved it these years” he interrupted him, shaking his head.<br/>
“And we are still here for the story you want me to tell, not for how many men I had in the last twelve years” he concluded, finishing the coffee and stare meeting again Chanyeol’s.<br/>
Chanyeol stared back at him perplexed before chuckling softly.<br/>
“No, indeed. But there’s other things I came to know about you” he stated again and Baekhyun carded his fingers through his hair.<br/>
“Please, then. Later would you tell me something more or am I wasting my time?” he asked him and Chanyeol hummed in thought, shrugging his shoulders.<br/>
“You are just enjoying yourself, then, okay” he concluded, nodding and ready to listen to what other scandals or news Chanyeol would have brought up this time.<br/>
“Do you still play piano? I heard that you can’t anymore” he asked him and Baekhyun bit his lips, feeling the weight and the pain sipping directly to his heart.<br/>
“That’s right” he replied, shifting his stare away.<br/>
The first time he went to Afghanistan, he was injured pretty badly to his shoulder and arm, due to which he couldn’t play piano at competition level anymore.<br/>
His hand shook visibly if he tried to play for more than ten minutes straight.<br/>
“How was it? You had some stage fear or something like that?” he asked him and Baekhyun clicked his tongue, rolling up sleeve over the elbow and showing him the scars along his forearm and arm and how his hand tremble if he tried to keep it open and steady for too much.<br/>
“Does this look like stage fear to you?” he asked him and Chanyeol’s stare was astonished and incredulous.<br/>
“How?” he asked back and Baekhyun rolled his sleeve down again, sighing.<br/>
“Does it make any difference? I was gardening and accidentally I cut myself with a broken pot” he replied sarcastically and Chanyeol glared at him, deadpanned.<br/>
“Afghanistan. Specifically, Kabul. And it’s not the only ones I have. With every choice comes a waiver. And I renounced to play piano to continue reporting” he concluded voice soft, almost a whisper.<br/>
He still hurt him the only thought of not being able to play at competition level anymore, but the awareness that he was doing something good for the world, maybe made it feel less hurtful.<br/>
“Why are you doing such a dangerous job?” Chanyeol asked him, this time interested in having an honest reply.<br/>
Baekhyun sighed, shaking his head.<br/>
“Because I’m a, what was it, idealistic, insurgent and chauvinist reporter?” he replied, remembering the same adjectives with which Chanyeol’s defined him that time that they met at Yixing’s Institute.<br/>
Chanyeol sighed deeply too.<br/>
“I’m sorry. And I’m sorry for offending you at your exhibit last time” Chanyeol whispered and Baekhyun snorted, shaking his head.<br/>
“I don’t need your apologies, but I appreciate them” he commented before gesturing the woman for another coffee.<br/>
She beamed at him and he smiled politely back.<br/>
There was a small silence and then Baekhyun sighed softly.<br/>
“So, trivia is over? Or you still have aces in your sleeves to use against me?” he asked him, smiling bitterly, feeling his pocket for another package of cigarette but without finding it.<br/>
He sighed deeply and simply accepted the coffee.<br/>
Chanyeol shook his head briefly.<br/>
“Just last question” he added and Baekhyun nodded.<br/>
“Shoot. You already dig pretty deep, one more won’t do the difference” he replied, sipping his coffee and Chanyeol hummed it thought.<br/>
“Why you never came back? Even when you would have the possibility?” he asked him and Baekhyun’s stare went wider in perplexity before sighing deeply.<br/>
“I have nothing, Park. Not here not anywhere else. Seoul or Tokyo. Rome or New York. Istanbul or Jakarta. It’s all the same to me. Nothing makes me want to come back in a place instead of another. Now I’m here because I have this matter to settle but once it will be done, I will move on. There’s India and Iran in the very next future. Then I don’t know…” he replied honestly finishing his coffee and forcing a smile toward him.<br/>
“I don’t have anything in particular against you, if this worried you” he added and Chanyeol’s eyes widened in surprise.<br/>
He covered it with a chuckle, but Baekhyun knew that he was right.<br/>
“Nothing of this sort, Baekhyun. Why would I be worried about this?” he asked him and Baekhyun nodded softly.<br/>
“Indeed. No reason” he stated before sitting up and extracting his wallet from his pocket.<br/>
“And I suppose I won’t get anything on Park Industries or on your sister, right?” he added softly making Chanyeol frown.<br/>
“Maybe another time?” he replied and Baekhyun nodded.<br/>
“Let’s see next week again?” he asked and Chanyeol sat up too, nodding softly.<br/>
“For dinner. Where I decide” he stated and Baekhyun hummed in thought.<br/>
“Are you…” he started and Chanyeol shake his head.<br/>
“Just say yes” he interrupted him and Baekhyun sighed deeply, frowning.<br/>
“Park…” he started again but seeing Chanyeol’s expression, he couldn’t refuse.<br/>
Chanyeol looked so soft and so strangely similar to past Chanyeol that Baekhyun couldn’t say no.<br/>
“Fine. Text me with the details and I’ll be there” he concluded, knowing already that he would regret this decision any time before next week.<br/>
“Perfect” he concluded and Baekhyun paid for both, unhearing Chanyeol’s protest.<br/>
“I’m not so poor as you can think, you know? And I invited you here in the middle of nothing instead of your usual city center” he concluded, waiving again toward the woman and then exiting in the parking lot.<br/>
Chanyeol nodded briefly before walking toward a black luxurious Audi.<br/>
“I even drive here. Alone” he added making Baekhyun explode in a sound laugh.<br/>
“Such an achievement for rich boy Park” he stated, clicking his remote to unlock his car doors.<br/>
And he said his car but it was Junmyeon’s second car, actually, since Baekhyun didn’t have one on his own.<br/>
Chanyeol huffed in reply.<br/>
“See you next week. Bring me something more than some homosexual scandals otherwise I will be forced to really ask you about Park Industries” Baekhyun stated opening the front door and Chanyeol chuckled.<br/>
“I’ll do my best, Baekhyun. See you next week” he concluded sitting in his car and driving away.<br/>
Baekhyun shook his head softly, realizing that there was a small smile on his lips.<br/>
He couldn’t let someone as Chanyeol too near himself, once again in his life.</p><p><br/>
On Friday, he met with Kyungsoo at Twinkle.<br/>
When he arrived, Taeyeon wasn’t around but he immediately spotted Kyungsoo.<br/>
And he wasn’t alone.<br/>
“Baek?” Kyungsoo asked him seeing him enter the café, and Baekhyun nodded shortly, walking toward him.<br/>
“Soo… How are you?” he asked him softly and Kyungsoo made gesture for him to sit, smiling softly.<br/>
“Everything’s fine. And I don’t know if you remember about him, but it’s Kim Jongin” he added, gesturing toward the man sitting with him.<br/>
Baekhyun force a smile nodding shortly.<br/>
“Sure. Nice to see you again” he whispered and the other glanced toward him, wary.<br/>
They ordered something and started to speak about old time gone and how things changed in Seoul since Baekhyun went away.<br/>
“What surprised me more was that Park Industries weren’t there anymore. I mean, it was a fixed point in my childhood memories!” Baekhyun added and Kyungsoo nodded briefly.<br/>
“It was a shock for most of us too, even if we were here. It was a thing decided overnight, apparently” Kyungsoo stated and Baekhyun nodded softly.<br/>
“Must be hard for the Parks?” he commented and Kyungsoo nodded softly.<br/>
“Especially for Yoora” he added and Baekhyun frowned at the utilization of the first name.<br/>
For what he remembered, Kyungsoo and Yoora weren’t particularly friends?<br/>
“For that scandal?” Baekhyun asked again and Kyungsoo sighed before nodding shortly again.<br/>
“Now she’s a bit better, living near Incheon but for the first years she was depressed and nothing could cheer her up” he explained and Baekhyun’s frown grew deeper.<br/>
“Do you think it would be possible for me to see her? I’m trying to recontact all the person I was in contact with before going away and Yoora, well, we spent a lot of time together being Yeol’s sister” he whispered and Kyungsoo nodded softly.<br/>
“Sure, why not?” he added writing on a napkin her address and her phone number.<br/>
“Better if you call her before going to see her… You know with her daughter” he continued and Baekhyun nodded taking the paper.<br/>
“Thank you” he replied but Kyungsoo opened in a sweet smile.<br/>
“I’m sure she will be happy to see you” he concluded before shifting the discourse to something different.<br/>
“And what about Chanyeol? Did you already see him?” he asked and Baekhyun nodded shortly.<br/>
“Sure” he whispered earning himself a frown form Kyungsoo.<br/>
“You were pretty intimate before you moved away. How was seeing him again?” he asked and Baekhyun sighed deeply, repressing the instinct of lightening himself a cigarette.<br/>
He was sure that Twinkle wasn’t exactly the best place to smoke inside.<br/>
“Different. He’s different and I am too” he replied honestly, admitting the differences but avoiding all the fact that he slapped him in a public place and they weren’t exactly in the best terms.<br/>
However, Jongin snorted at the small mention, attracting both Baekhyun and Kyungsoo’s attentions.<br/>
“He hates you and the feeling is the same from your part” he stated sharply making Baekhyun chuckle softly.<br/>
“More than hate, I’d say we don’t stand each other and it’s difficult for us to be in the same room?” he replied again honestly and Kyungsoo shook his head shortly.<br/>
“For how much things changed in these years, I think that you simply didn’t have the occasion to speak honestly about what changed in your lives and…” he started and Baekhyun snorted too, shaking his head.<br/>
“Soo, whatever happened to him, we are not on the same page. My work is exactly what he hates. I’m just a reporter too nosy for his own good” he objected and Jongin nodded shortly, proving his point.<br/>
“And for my part isn’t any different. He forgot about his own origin and how he is a middle-class ignorant too” he added, shrugging his shoulders and drinking the rest of his coffee in one go.<br/>
Kyungsoo wanted to add something but Baekhyun forced another smile.<br/>
“It’s not the end of the world, Soo. It’s not like we were destined to be together forever or…” he started softly but Kyungsoo stopped him, putting his hand in front of Baekhyun’s face who stared at him perplexed.<br/>
“You were. Because you didn’t need words nor other things. Everything was in perfect synchro when you were together” he stated and Baekhyun sighed deeply.<br/>
As if he didn’t know.<br/>
As if he didn’t miss it every day of his life.<br/>
As if it didn’t hurt when he knew that Chanyeol became all that they both once hated so much.<br/>
He knew it perfectly that once he and Chanyeol were perfect together, same pieces of a puzzle fitting in together so rightly that the rest of the world meant nothing to them.<br/>
But they were young.<br/>
Young and different.<br/>
Life happened while they were apart and transformed them in something not so fitting anymore.<br/>
Pushing them as far apart as they could go.<br/>
“I know and I miss those moments. But we are not… the same anymore. And as Kim said, he doesn’t stand me and vice versa” he concluded before sitting up and carding his fingers in his hair.<br/>
“Now if you want to excuse me, I have a meeting with my editor. Let’s see around? Before I go away again” he whispered, forcing another smile and Kyungsoo sat up too, hugging him shortly.<br/>
Baekhyun was dumbfounded but reciprocated the hug, patting on Kyungsoo’s shoulders.<br/>
“Everything is going more than fine, Soo. Don’t worry about me” he whispered him but Kyungsoo shook his head.<br/>
“You are always the same. Selfless to the very core. I didn’t even ask you about your family, nothing…” he muttered back making Baekhyun chuckle shortly.<br/>
“I prefer if you don’t ask me about my family. And I’m fine, really. I survived even worse things” he added and Kyungsoo gently slapped his shoulder before detaching from the embrace.<br/>
“Idiot. If you need anything, count on me” he concluded and Baekhyun thanked him before waiving to them and walking away.<br/>
At his first step outside, he lighted up a cigarette, immediately composing Yoora’s phone number and waiting for her reply.<br/>
“Hello?” she asked and her voice was still gentle and sweet as Baekhyun remembered it.<br/>
“Yoora? It’s me, Baekhyun…” he whispered back and she almost squealed at the name.<br/>
“Baekhyunnie? Oh gosh, how many years it has been? Eleven? Are you again in Korea?” she asked him, cheerfulness tinting her voice, making Baekhyun smile.<br/>
“Yeah, for a while. How have you been?” he asked her, puffing out a breath of smoke and she sighed softly.<br/>
“Now a bit better. Are you up to a drive to Incheon?” she asked him back and Baekhyun couldn’t hope for a better reply.<br/>
“Sure, it’s no more than an hour, right?” he stated wondering if he had enough gasoline or if it was better to stop somewhere to refill.<br/>
“Yeah, when are you free?” she asked him and Baekhyun hummed in thought.<br/>
“Also this afternoon?” he proposed her, thinking about how the following days would have been problematic to drive until Incheon and be back in time for the various meeting Junmyeon set up for him about his article on Bolivia.<br/>
“Oh that would be perfect. I was preparing myself for the most boring afternoon, so it would be a pleasure to have you around for a while” she replied and Baekhyun smiled again.<br/>
“Perfect, see you around three then” he concluded and Yoora agreed before telling him that she would send him the right address.<br/>
Finally, maybe, he would have some lights on what really happened that summer and why they mounted up such a huge scandal for covering up something.<br/>
He drove until Junmyeon’s office and settled with him the last edits to his article and the last details for upcoming meetings and press conferences.<br/>
“Myeon, may I ask you something?” Baekhyun asked him out of the blue, when he was almost out of his office.<br/>
Junmyeon frowned and nodded briefly, dedicating all his attention to Baekhyun.<br/>
“Do you know nothing about… Institute for Seoul Redevelopment?” he asked him and Junmyeon’s frown became deeper.<br/>
“Not so much. Closed down in the early nineties because it didn’t have enough public consent. All the funds moved to Seoul committee for public security” he replied, sitting up and opening one of the many drawers of his studio and picking up a yellow folder.<br/>
He gave it to Baekhyun who took it, nodding shortly.<br/>
“And about Park Industries or Park Corporation?” he inquired again and Junmyeon sighed deeply, giving him another yellow folder, this time not exactly replying his question.<br/>
“What are you up to, Baek?” he asked him and Baekhyun shook his head.<br/>
“I don’t know yet, but it seems that I don’t have to go to the other end of the world to find something interesting to work on. It was right here, waiting for someone to ask the right questions” he replied, smiling softly toward Junmyeon who shook his head too.<br/>
“Beware of what you ask and who you ask. Maybe it can be something more complex than you think” he stated, making Baekhyun chuckle.<br/>
“I’ll be cautious. No worry” he concluded, thanking him again for the folder and walking away.<br/>
He ate some ramyun along the way to Incheon, reading the folders Junmyeon gave him.<br/>
There wasn’t so much but confirmed him that the Institute for Seoul Redevelopment couldn’t issue those funds for the opening of Park Corporation.<br/>
So, where did those funds came from?<br/>
What interested Baekhyun more about the folder Junmyeon gave him, though, it was the mention of the Seoul’s committee for public security.<br/>
Why of all the department of Seoul city, those funds went from redevelopment to public security?<br/>
They weren’t exactly related.<br/>
He sighed deeply closing the folder and paying for his lunch, finally driving to Yoora’s.</p><p><br/>
When he arrived, he couldn’t believe that he was in the right place.<br/>
Yoora didn’t live in a run-down apartment or some desolated place like he could imagine for some runaway?<br/>
She lived in a nice, two-story house made of glass and wood with a modest garden full of flowers, a swing and… was that a puppy?<br/>
There was a small puppy of shiba inu and Baekhyun was sold.<br/>
He loved dogs and that fluffy golden thing was so cute and kind of remembered him of Chanyeol?<br/>
Baekhyun shook away those thoughts and pressed the bell, making the dog coming near the gate, wary but without barking.<br/>
On the doorway appeared a small girl, probably no more than ten years old with a long braid, so similar to Yoora that Baekhyun didn’t have any doubt about her being Yoora’s daughter.<br/>
“Mom!” she called before crouching and calling the dog.<br/>
“Paco, come here. Don’t scare him” she called him but Baekhyun wonder how a cute dog like that could actually scare someone away.<br/>
And then on the doorway appeared also Yoora, older than Baekhyun remembered but still so beautiful.<br/>
Her stare softened immediately when she saw Baekhyun.<br/>
“Baekhyunnie, you grew up so much!” she exclaimed going to open the gate and immediately hugging him.<br/>
It was unexpected and it was already his second hugs in a day.<br/>
Baekhyun could get used to all that affection.<br/>
“Yoora, it seems an eternity. You are so beautiful” he whispered in the embrace and she hugged him even tighter.<br/>
“Oh, come on, don’t lie. I got rounder and fatter. For not mentioning older and aching” she stated making him chuckle.<br/>
“Non-senses” he commented caressing her back and making her smile softly, detaching from the embrace.<br/>
“Can I introduce you my daughter Chanmi and my dog Paco?” she added gesturing toward the small girl who was playing with the small dog.<br/>
Baekhyun smiled softly.<br/>
“Hi, I’m Baekhyun, it’s a pleasure to meet you” he greeted her and she bowed softly toward him, blush tinting her cheeks.<br/>
Yoora chuckled making gesture to enter the house.<br/>
“She’s a bit shy with people she doesn’t know” she whispered walking toward the entrance and Baekhyun followed her, nodding.<br/>
“Typical of kids… In every culture or country I went they are all or super shy or super active and curious, no middle way” he observed and Yoora chuckled softly.<br/>
“Yeol told me about you being a reporter around the world. How’s your work going?” she asked him and Baekhyun’s frowned deeply.<br/>
Chanyeol still talked with his sister?<br/>
And talked to her about him?<br/>
How recent was this thing?<br/>
“Fine. I’m back for a while after my trip in Bolivia, but I don’t know how long I’ll stay here” he replied trying to ignore that strange feeling.<br/>
“Oh, yeah. Yeol told me about it. I followed a bit your press conference a few weeks ago. You really discovered something dangerous out there” she added and Baekhyun’s perplexity kept growing.<br/>
“Does Chanyeol come here often?” he asked her, following her in the kitchen where she put on the stove a kettle for the tea.<br/>
Yoora nodded shortly, showing him a soft smile that confirmed his suspects.<br/>
Chanyeol loved his sister too much.<br/>
Whatever happened that summer, he couldn’t leave her alone.<br/>
Especially not knowing that she was pregnant.<br/>
“Yeol is as supporting as he always was. He didn’t change a bit in all these years” she added, opening the oven and pulling out a freshly baked cake.<br/>
“You are the first person who tell me he’s not changed. And, actually, it’s quite difficult to think since how he’s right now…” Baekhyun whispered and she chuckled softly before calling her daughter for a piece of cake.<br/>
“It’s all pretend, Baekhyunnie. He has to be like that” she objected and Baekhyun sighed softly, not knowing exactly how to comment that sentence.<br/>
Chanmi arrived running but Yoora stopped her immediately.<br/>
“Did you wash your hands? You played with Paco in the garden until now you can’t eat with those dirty hands” she stated and Chanmi pouted but went to the bathroom to wash her hands and came back immediately, smiling.<br/>
“Good girl” Yoora added, patting her head and making Baekhyun smile at the softness of that image.<br/>
It was oh so clear that Yoora loved her daughter.<br/>
“How’s your family doing?” she asked Baekhyun while she was cutting the cake and Baekhyun frowned softly.<br/>
“I would prefer to speak of your family than mine” he replied and Yoora frowned too.<br/>
“Not sure if that’s the right subject…” she commented, making Baekhyun shook his head.<br/>
“Mine neither. It’s… inexistent” he whispered, earning himself a sad stare from Yoora.<br/>
“I’m so sorry to hear that” she started saying but Baekhyun smiled softly at her.<br/>
“No need to. We weren’t a family anymore since… years?” he replied but she shook her head.<br/>
“Sometimes you still need someone who knows you as deep as only family can know you. Yeol is a blessing also for this reason. I can tell him everything and I know that he won’t love me any less than what he does” she whispered making Baekhyun smile again and distributing the cake to Chanmi and Baekhyun.<br/>
It was delicious and Baekhyun felt like he could cry for how sweet and warm it was.<br/>
“I’m glad to hear it” he commented briefly and her stare was again on him.<br/>
“You don’t even have contacts with your brother? Baekbom seems to be a reasonable person” she observed and Baekhyun laughed bitterly, shaking his head.<br/>
Reasonable wasn’t exactly a word he would use to describe his brother.<br/>
Self-righteous.<br/>
Strict.<br/>
Narrow-minded.<br/>
Imperious.<br/>
Definitely not reasonable.<br/>
He hated Baekhyun whole being with all his forces.<br/>
Baekhyun was everything Baekbom could despise in the world.<br/>
Baekhyun was open-minded, selfless, generous, politically active, volunteering around the world, on the truth’s end and, most of all, homosexual which was the worst of all the things before.<br/>
“He’s not…” he started before biting his lip and reformulating his sentence.<br/>
“We are not on the same page on too many things” he whispered and Yoora’s stare inquired him briefly before nodding shortly.<br/>
“And your parents?” she asked him and Baekhyun sighed briefly.<br/>
“My mother remarried and have a new life somewhere in California? And my father is in a federal prison near New York” he replied and Yoora was shocked.<br/>
“Are you kidding me?” she asked dumbfounded and he chuckled softly shaking his head.<br/>
“I’d love to, but I’m afraid I’m not” he replied honestly, sighing, and she shook her head too, incredulous.<br/>
“Heavens, Baekhyunnie. Why didn’t you come back before? We could have…” she started but he stopped her immediately.<br/>
“I think you had your own set of problems or am I mistaking?” Baekhyun asked her, voice getting softer and Yoora sighed deeply.<br/>
“Chanmi, did you finish all your homework for tomorrow?” she asked the kid who shook her head, finishing her slice of cake.<br/>
“Don’t you think it would be wise to finish them before appa come back home?” she continued and Chanmi nodded softly, running toward her room.<br/>
Yoora poured some tea for her and Baekhyun before pushing toward Baekhyun another slice of cake.<br/>
“You don’t believe a single word of that story, right?” she asked him and he shook his head gently.<br/>
“I’m sorry but I kind of developed a weird sense for these… half-truths?” he replied trying to be gentle with his words but Yoora shook her head too.<br/>
“You can call them as they are, Baekhyunnie. Lies. Big and fat as they can be” she added and Baekhyun sighed softly.<br/>
“Apart of you being pregnant, what was true?” he asked her and she sipped her tea before replying.<br/>
Her stare was far in the years and she seemed to be sadder than before.<br/>
“Nothing. I wasn’t pregnant of a man that worked with my father. I never came back that Summer because Yeol told me not to. Things with our family business weren’t… fine. My mother and my father argued a lot for nothing and Yeol wanted to fix things but he got himself in something bigger than him” she started saying and Baekhyun nodded shortly.<br/>
“So, why putting up this story?” he asked her and she sighed deeply.<br/>
“To cover up things. Starting from the fact that I wasn’t married but pregnant, to the fact that the relationship I had was with a distant relative of ours. Or to the fact that my father made some wrong investments with not some legal personalities?” she continued saying and Baekhyun hummed in thought, finally starting to get what actually happened that Summer.<br/>
“I suppose they were with some mafia affairs?” he asked her who bit her lips softly before nodding.<br/>
“My father asked some money to them because he wasn’t able to keep it up with the business, but obviously they came with a prize. And if from the beginning they were affordable, later on they became too expensive and too risky” she explained and Baekhyun nodded briefly.<br/>
“And it was Chanyeol’s idea to close Park Industries to open up Park Corporation?” he asked her but she shook her head.<br/>
“Yeol didn’t want to close Park Industries. He wanted to find a way to save them. But a cop who’s friend of our family since forever suggested him to do it. If he and my father testified against whoever extorted them money, they would have an easiest way out of it” she explained and Baekhyun shook his head already knowing what the outcome would be.<br/>
“That’s why they opened up Park Corporation with found from the public security. Because they testified against some gang members?” he asked her and she pressed her lips in a thin line.<br/>
“Yeol, at least. My father killed himself before doing it. He was a coward and left all the responsibilities and all the faults to Yeol” she whispered and Baekhyun sighed again, fingers carding through his hair.<br/>
He craved for a cigarette but it didn’t feel appropriate to ask Yoora if he could smoke inside.<br/>
“That’s why he is the only owner of Park Corporation and why he built an empire on the ashes of Park Industries?” he concluded and Yoora nodded softly.<br/>
“And also because he forced himself to be someone he’s not. He wasn’t ready to take on all the responsibilities and visibility that came with becoming one of the major investors in Bucheon and later in Seoul” she added and Baekhyun sighed even deeper.<br/>
“And this gave him the right to be an asshole toward people who had his own social status?” he asked her, but it was a rhetorical question, since he already knew the answer.<br/>
Yoora surprised him with her answer though.<br/>
“Obviously no. But he’s still the same kid he was before, Baekhyunnie. His uncertainties, his fears are the same and he found himself with so much power and so many enemies that he had to put on a mask and built his own persona. He wouldn’t have survived these years otherwise” she explained and Baekhyun hummed in thought, pressing his lips softly.<br/>
“I kind of understand it” he whispered, rethinking to all the awful things he saw around the world and how he had to defend himself from them in order to face every day.<br/>
Yoora sighed again before forcing a smile.<br/>
“I know he can seem an asshole and you got distant in these years, but he’s not. He still cares about you and he still is the same kind boy he was during high school” she added and Baekhyun shook his head.<br/>
“We are not the same, Yoora. I’m not the same” he replied and she patted his shoulder softly.<br/>
“Stop with us for dinner. I would like you to meet my husband” she concluded and Baekhyun nodded shortly, accepting her invitation and feelings.<br/>
Now Baekhyun had a clearer panoramic on the whole matter and knew what happened that Summer so many years ago.<br/>
Why Chanyeol had to close down Park Industries and founded Park Corporation.<br/>
He wanted things to be the same, only under another name, but his father didn’t manage the stress and the guilt, taking his life away.<br/>
He spent the rest of the afternoon and part of the evening with Yoora and her family.<br/>
Chanmi was a natural prodigy, really talented in everything manual like drawing and building small things, and so, so clever.<br/>
She asked Baekhyun a lot of questions on his travels around the world and she was marveled for every small thing.<br/>
Yoora’s husband was a slender man, not particularly attractive but really kind and obviously in love with her and their daughter.<br/>
It was the nearest things Baekhyun ever saw to the concept of family he had.<br/>
After dinner, during which he ate for months more than single days, he decided to go home and leaving them to their lives and rest.<br/>
“It was a pleasure meeting you again, Baekhyunnie” Yoora stated when they were at the gate in her garden.<br/>
“It was also for me, Yoora. Your daughter is lovely and your husband really loves you. I’m happy for you” he replied making her smile softly, nodding.<br/>
There was a small moment of silence and then Yoora took his hand, squeezing it gently.<br/>
“Will you promise me a thing?” she asked him and Baekhyun frowned briefly before nodding shortly.<br/>
“Would you please give Yeol a second chance? He still misses you so much” she almost pleaded him, making Baekhyun shift his stare away.<br/>
“I’m not sure it’s what we want?” he tried but Yoora shook her head.<br/>
“I’m sure that Yeol is still in love with you. He always speaks about you and last time he came here and he told me that you were in Korea he was overjoying. He told me about how you changed, how interesting you are and how he doesn’t absolutely know how to relate with you anymore” she added and Baekhyun pressed his lips in a thin line, humming.<br/>
“I’ll see him next week. He invited me out for dinner, even if the apparent reason is because he wants me to write an article of how rich and powerful he became in the last years” he whispered and she beamed at him.<br/>
“Excellent. Fantastic, I’d say” she smiled at him and Baekhyun sighed again.<br/>
“Why do you want me to be with Chanyeol so much?” he asked her and she showed him a small smile.<br/>
“Because he can be himself only around you. You that know everything about him. He can show you his weaknesses without fearing to be judged” she started and when Baekhyun tried to add something she stopped him.<br/>
“What you had was irreplaceable for him. He loves you, Baekhyunnie. He always did” she concluded and Baekhyun hummed softly before shaking his head briefly.<br/>
“I can’t grant you anything, Yoora” he concluded and she nodded, squeezing once again his hand.<br/>
“Thank you for even trying” she whispered, kissing his cheek and making him blush.<br/>
“You never change” he muttered earning himself a chuckle from Yoora.<br/>
“And you still have a soft spot for my brother. So…” she added making Baekhyun huff in exasperation.<br/>
“So, I’ll go away that it’s better” he concluded and she smiled again at him.<br/>
“Bye, Baekhyunnie. See you again” she greeted him and he waived shortly at her before going to his car and lighting himself a cigarette.<br/>
He smoked while driving away, waiving again to Yoora.<br/>
That evening was a roller-coaster of feelings and news.<br/>
How could he process everything he now knew?<br/>
And those feelings Yoora claimed that Chanyeol still had for him, were they true?<br/>
How much were they real?<br/>
Because Baekhyun knew that Yoora was right and he had something soft for Chanyeol.<br/>
And Chanyeol still held an important place in Baekhyun’s heart.<br/>
But was it still possible to build something between them?</p><p><br/>
In the following days he started to write an article about Park Corporation and his founder, Chanyeol.<br/>
Based on what Yoora said and what he came to know, he was able to start in a good way.<br/>
He also wrote Yixing’s article, giving it to Junmyeon to edit.<br/>
He went to every meeting and press conference Junmyeon scheduled for him.<br/>
It was one of the fullest weeks in his life in that last period, so full that he almost forgot about his dinner with Chanyeol.<br/>
He called Baekhyun on Thursday evening while Baekhyun was bathing, after dinner.<br/>
Bath was a ritual for Baekhyun and he could take hours inside the bathtub, alone with his wine and his thoughts.<br/>
He picked up just because he saw that the caller was Chanyeol, otherwise he would have left the phone ringing.<br/>
“Yeah?” he replied, voice low and relaxed.<br/>
He felt a bit numbed by the warmth of the water and maybe also because he was already at his fourth glass that night.<br/>
“Do I interrupt something?” Chanyeol asked from the other end of the phone.<br/>
“Yeah, my bath. So please, be as short as you can” he replied honestly but making Chanyeol chuckle.<br/>
“You still feel like bath time it’s sacred?” he asked again and Baekhyun hummed in reply.<br/>
There was a small silence and then Chanyeol spoke up again.<br/>
“For that dinner, would it be okay for you tomorrow, eight and half, at Viva Polo?” he asked him and Baekhyun whistled in reply.<br/>
Viva Polo was like the most expensive and exclusive Italian restaurant in all Seoul and maybe in all Korean territory.<br/>
“Do you want to leave me penniless, Park?” he retorted but Chanyeol clicked his tongue.<br/>
“I would never let you pay for it, if it helps you” he replied and Baekhyun frowned shortly.<br/>
“Why shouldn’t I pay for my share at least?” he asked briefly, drinking another sip from his glass.<br/>
“Because I invited you there and because I tell you so” Chanyeol stated making Baekhyun chuckle briefly.<br/>
“As you say, Mr. Park” he whispered, voice tone even lower, softer.<br/>
From the other end of the call, no replies came.<br/>
“Park?” Baekhyun called him perplexed and Chanyeol cleared his throat briefly.<br/>
“Yeah, I’m here. Sorry just thinking to something else” he replied and Baekhyun frowned briefly.<br/>
“See you tomorrow then?” he asked him and Chanyeol sighed softly, making Baekhyun frown again.<br/>
“You sure you okay?” he inquired again and Chanyeol hummed briefly.<br/>
“Yeah, sure, why should it be something not okay?” he replied, laughing briefly but it was a nervous laugh and Baekhyun wasn’t convinced at all.<br/>
“You know that if there’s something, you can talk with me, right?” he asked him but Chanyeol laughed again, this time bitterly.<br/>
“Sure, sure so that you later write it on a beautiful article? No thanks” he replied making Baekhyun click his tongue, irritated.<br/>
“You are an idiot. See you tomorrow” he concluded hanging up the call and putting again the phone on the low shelf near the bathtub.<br/>
“Idiot” he added in a whisper finishing his glass and pouring himself another.<br/>
Yoora was wrong.<br/>
Chanyeol couldn’t be himself around Baekhyun because Baekhyun was a reporter and for that only for Chanyeol.<br/>
He wouldn’t confide him anything.<br/>
Like he didn’t in the past, he wouldn’t do it either in that moment.</p><p><br/>
Being Viva Polo such an exclusive and elegant restaurant, it had a dress code and if there was something that Baekhyun hated from the very bottom of his heart, it was dress code.<br/>
He hated wearing formal clothes and even more having to keep them on for hours straight.<br/>
Especially when he had to eat.<br/>
However, he dressed up as required.<br/>
White shirt, black jacket and trousers, styled hair and a bit of make-up just not to be his usual plain being.<br/>
He drove until Viva Polo chain-smoking in the car because… yes.<br/>
He was agitated and restless for reasons and the idea of spending the evening with Chanyeol, after the discourse he had with Yoora, didn’t make him feel any better.<br/>
At eight twenty, he was outside Viva Polo, smoking slowly and fidgeting with his phone, trying to convince Junmyeon that it was important to insist on the relevance of Yixing’s mission in Asian countries.<br/>
“You look stunning, Mr. reporter” Chanyeol’s voice came up suddenly and Baekhyun’s stare went immediately to him who was… perfect.<br/>
The navy-blue suit was perfect for his physique, making him seem even taller and his hair was perfectly styled.<br/>
Once again, perfect prince charming.<br/>
However, for the first time Baekhyun had another type of image too.<br/>
How would it be to have Chanyeol, that Chanyeol, so perfect and so composed, moaning and pleading under him?<br/>
Baekhyun was perplexed by his own thoughts and pushed them away the very same instant he realized them.<br/>
“What should I say about prince charming Park?” he asked back, stomping the cigarette butt on his portable ashtray and making the phone disappear in his pockets.<br/>
Chanyeol smirked at him briefly before making a small gesture toward the entrance of the restaurant.<br/>
The inside was sparkling and brilliant and Baekhyun immediately felt uncomfortable about all that luxury.<br/>
Even more when a waiter, dressed on point, accompanied them to a table in the remote end of the hall and separated with a small decorated screen.<br/>
On the table there was already two bottle of wine in an ice bucket.<br/>
“You come here often?” Baekhyun asked him, sitting in front of Chanyeol who nodded shortly.<br/>
“Enough to make them remember who I am, where I like to sit, what I like to drink and how cooked I prefer my dishes” he replied making Baekhyun shook his head.<br/>
“Typical of rich people, I’d say” he replied and when Chanyeol tried to interject, Baekhyun stopped him.<br/>
“I eat everywhere, never in the same place twice if not for necessity. I tried every dish and every cuisine around the world. I don’t like things that, after long, became monotone” he explained and Chanyeol chuckled softly.<br/>
“I think yours is a behavior that rich people have more than I do” he commented and Baekhyun smiled at him, softly.<br/>
“We are not so far apart, then” he added, picking up the menu and opening it.<br/>
The prices were the higher Baekhyun ever saw written on a menu, but he tried as hard as he could to ignore them.<br/>
“Any particular suggestion?” he asked to Chanyeol who hummed in thought, opening the menu too.<br/>
“Surely, spaghetti. With shellfish if you are up to it. Followed by…” he started reading along the line, biting his lips and Baekhyun smiled softly, memory of something similar happening twelve years ago.<br/>
They were sitting in the booth of an old drive-in and Baekhyun was still hungry despite the hamburger and chips he just ate and asked Chanyeol for suggestions.<br/>
Chanyeol read the menu the same way he was reading it in that moment.<br/>
He pushed away the memory, focusing again on the menu and deciding for himself.<br/>
“That will be fine, and I’ll go with grilled seabass” he whispered softly, closing the menu with a low thud.<br/>
They ordered at the same waiter that accompany them to the table and then they sat in silence for a few minutes more.<br/>
“Listen,” they both said together and Baekhyun chuckled softly, gesturing toward Chanyeol so that he could speak up.<br/>
“I found something else about you, you know?” he started and Baekhyun sighed deeply shaking his head.<br/>
“Neither tonight we will speak about Park Industries and your sister?” he asked him and Chanyeol smiled softly, tilting his head on the side.<br/>
“I promise you we will tonight” he declared and Baekhyun inhaled softly.<br/>
“Fine. Shoot, I’m ready” he concluded and Chanyeol nodded, getting immediately serious.<br/>
There was only one thing that Baekhyun still hide to almost everyone and was known only to him, Yixing that was with him and to the Chinese police.<br/>
Chanyeol knew it too?<br/>
Or was it something else stupid like Baekbom hating the hell out of him and disowning him?<br/>
Or his mother having another family in California?<br/>
Or him broke rules in at least twenty different countries around the world?<br/>
“I had an interesting conversation with Mr. Zhang, last week” he started and Baekhyun hummed softly.<br/>
“You killed a man in China” he whispered and Baekhyun nodded shortly.<br/>
“That’s right” he replied briefly, pouring himself a glass of wine.<br/>
Chanyeol frowned.<br/>
“And you don’t have anything to add to this?” he asked him and Baekhyun drink a sip from his glass, humming in appreciation for the good choice in wine.<br/>
“What do you want me to tell you? Don’t you know already everything?” he inquired and Chanyeol shook his head, shortly.<br/>
Baekhyun hummed drinking another sip.<br/>
“I was in China, writing something about the mafia in Shandong areas. Hapkido lessons never were as useful as in that moment. I was with Yixing and a group of people attacked us. We were asking the right questions to the wrong people. One of them had a gun and tried to shoot Yixing, but I intervened. He shot me in the arm, but I used his gun to shoot him too. My aim was better than his” he explained, the tone of his voice soft almost imperceptible.<br/>
He remembered that moment as it was yesterday, memories still so fervid in his mind.<br/>
“Aren’t you glad? You discovered every single secret I had, including this. Now that you dug so deep inside my life, can I finally ask questions or…?” he started and Chanyeol shook his head briefly.<br/>
“Just one last question and then I promised I’ll answer yours” he whispered and Baekhyun poured himself another glass of wine.<br/>
He needed it that evening if he wanted to arrive at the end of it safe and sound.<br/>
“You never spoke with anybody of this, right?” he asked him and Baekhyun frowned briefly.<br/>
“If you plan to use it against me, I’ll let you know that it’s written in my passport and both Chinese, Korean and American authorities are informed about it. Not to mention my editor, Junmyeon, and Xing that was with me” he replied tiredly.<br/>
He didn’t need Chanyeol to try and threaten him.<br/>
His life was already too messy without that.<br/>
However, Chanyeol shook his head, worried.<br/>
“I would never, Baekhyun. It’s just that… killing a man? It’s something that can change your life forever” he whispered and Baekhyun shook his head, chuckling.<br/>
“What should have I done? Let him kill me? Or fleet the scene, leaving Xing alone? It was the only thing I could do” he replied briefly.<br/>
The waiter brought them the first dishes and Baekhyun took the fork, studying the plate shortly.<br/>
It seemed to be more elaborated than expected.<br/>
“I mean, you never confided it to anyone. You could have talked about it with someone” Chanyeol added softly, stare still worried but Baekhyun shook his head, picking up some pasta and eating it.<br/>
He munched slowly, savoring it.<br/>
Maybe it was worth that price.<br/>
It was delicious and cooked enough and the shellfishes were tasty.<br/>
“There’s no one in my life, Park. I’ve no family, no friends, no lovers. I’m just me and my work. I didn’t feel the need to speak about it with someone, though, if it makes you feel better” he commented starting to eat slowly.<br/>
Chanyeol started too, stare still worried never leaving Baekhyun’s face.<br/>
“I’m not a teenager anymore, you know? I went through a lot of shit and if I had to confide every single thing to someone, I would have written a book out of it” he observed but Chanyeol wasn’t happy either with that reply.<br/>
“Still, you could have…” he started and Baekhyun put down the fork staring at him intensely.<br/>
“Call you?” he interrupted him, stare not wavering not moving from Chanyeol’s face.<br/>
Chanyeol nodded briefly.<br/>
“Maybe you were drunk enough so you don’t remember, but last time we spoke before I came back to Korea, you said that you hated me, and your life was better without me. Sorry if you weren’t exactly the first person I thought about when shit happened” he whispered, sadness tinting his voice because he knew that, actually, Chanyeol was indeed the first person he thought about when the first worse things started to happen.<br/>
Because he missed Chanyeol.<br/>
He wanted to tell him that he was hurting so much and he needed someone beside him, even figuratively or at distance.<br/>
But after that call, how could he call Chanyeol asking him for support?<br/>
Chanyeol was really better off without him.<br/>
And after the first times, things became normal.<br/>
It was normal for shit to happen and he didn’t wonder anymore about things happening to him, was it his mother transferring to California or being shoot somewhere in Shandong or spying on a narco-traffic in Argentina.<br/>
Everything was normal.<br/>
Fine enough for him not to care about it anymore.<br/>
Chanyeol’s eyes went wider in perplexity and Baekhyun forced a smile.<br/>
“No worries, I coped well enough without anyone” he concluded, starting to eat again.<br/>
There was a short silence and then Baekhyun sighed softly.<br/>
“So is now fine to ask about Park Industries or…?” he asked him and Chanyeol sighed deeply.<br/>
“Why are you so interested in Park Industries and this story, Baekhyun?” he whispered briefly and Baekhyun hummed shortly and before he could reply, Chanyeol stopped him.<br/>
“And I don’t want to hear a It’s only my job, Park or something like that” he added making Baekhyun force a smile.<br/>
“Would it be better a It’s only my job, Chanyeol?” he asked him and Chanyeol chuckled, shaking his head briefly.<br/>
“I appreciate the name, actually, but I’m not fine with the reply itself” he commented, earning himself another sigh from Baekhyun.<br/>
“Because I want to know. Know what happened that Summer. Know what changed you and the people around you. Know what made you build up walls and facades. Because you can’t convince me as you convinced others that you are a completely different person compared to the Chanyeol I knew” he replied honestly, revealing part of his feelings about that whole story.<br/>
Chanyeol’s stare was perplexed, astonished, and then finally revealed the hurt behind it.<br/>
“What do you want me to tell you, Baekhyun?” he asked him softly.<br/>
“What happened to Park Industries, Chanyeol?” he inquired back and Chanyeol sighed briefly, shaking his head.<br/>
“My… father ran up debts. More than he cared to admit and with people who weren’t exactly legal entrepreneurs” he started, voice soft, almost a whisper.<br/>
“When I was younger I didn’t exactly get it, but debts grew larger and larger and he couldn’t afford them anymore. When my mother revealed everything to me, crying, I knew I had to do something about it” he continued and Baekhyun nodded shortly.<br/>
“I called a friend of us who was a cop. He helped us, granting us protection for our depositions. For the help in arresting a whole gang related to the mafia, we got an enormous public donation. With that I opened up Park Corporation” he explained again and Baekhyun hummed briefly.<br/>
Up that point everything was as he knew.<br/>
But what about Yoora’s pregnancy?<br/>
“Obviously things didn’t go as I predicted. My father started to drink, being also violent with my mother and me. I told noona to stay away even before I knew she was pregnant. And I set up the whole scandal about her pregnancy not to put any pressure on my mother when my father killed himself. And I used it also to justify Park Industries closing up and the birth of Park Corporation, of which I was, and still am, the only account holder” he stated and his look was sad, almost dejected.<br/>
“Yoora knew about it?” Baekhyun asked him and Chanyeol sighed deeply, voice wavering.<br/>
“She was the one who suggested it” he replied and Baekhyun’s eyes widened in surprise, feeling for a moment deceived by Yoora’s beautiful words and nice story.<br/>
She was the one who tried her best to save Chanyeol and her family even with her sacrifice, even with people thinking the worst of her.<br/>
“I didn’t want to, at first, but she insisted telling me that it was the best choice for us, for my mother for everyone. That I had to stay strong for both and for our mother” he added softly, shaking his head and Baekhyun sighed softy.<br/>
There was a small silence and then Baekhyun decided to tell Chanyeol that he met Yoora.<br/>
“I… went to see your sister, last week” he stated and Chanyeol forced a small smile.<br/>
“She told me” he replied briefly and Baekhyun chuckled.<br/>
“She loves you oh so much, Chanyeol. She would do whatever to protect you and what you could build with your new industry. She gave everything for you to be the kind of person you wanted to be. And I think that she’s the most brave and strong people I know” he whispered, feeling immediately soft, rethinking at what Yoora told him about family and relying on people around him.<br/>
It was so warm and so bright whatever she had with Chanyeol and maybe neither Chanyeol knew how lucky he was in having a sister as Yoora.<br/>
Chanyeol showed him the softest smile Baekhyun ever saw on his lips and that made him realize how in love he still was with Chanyeol.<br/>
“I know. She’s the best sister in the world” he whispered and Baekhyun smiled softly, nodding briefly.<br/>
“You should cherish her” he concluded, taking again his fork and forcing himself to finish what there was in the dish.<br/>
He didn’t feel hungry anymore, maybe all that discourse or the sudden realization that he was in love with Chanyeol as he was twelve years ago.<br/>
They ended the dished in silence and when the waiter brought them away, asking them if they wanted something more, Baekhyun asked for coffee.<br/>
“Sure, sir. I’ll be right back” the waiter concluded smiling toward him and Baekhyun sighed softly.<br/>
“You attracted Mark’s attentions” Chanyeol stated, making Baekhyun chuckle shortly.<br/>
“He’s too young and too inexpert. And not the kind of man, I’m interested into” he replied, smirking.<br/>
Chanyeol chuckled too.<br/>
“How do you even know?” he asked him and Baekhyun smiled widely.<br/>
“Still thinks he could top with me” he stated alluringly and making Chanyeol choke on thin air.<br/>
Baekhyun laughed briefly, pouring wine into Chanyeol’s glass who drank immediately.<br/>
“I didn’t know you were sensible to this kind of subjects, Chanyeol” he added, smirk still present on his lips.<br/>
“No, well, I…” he started but Baekhyun smiled again.<br/>
“Relax. Sorry for being too R-rated for this dinner” he added but Chanyeol shook his head softly.<br/>
“For what I remember you never topped” Chanyeol whispered softly but Baekhyun showed him another smirk.<br/>
“Things changed and I know better what I want?” he declared softly, tone getting lower, almost a purr.<br/>
Chanyeol stared at him, lips parted in awe and Baekhyun smiled briefly.<br/>
“You seem interested” he added jokingly and expecting a refusal or a denial from Chanyeol who instead nodded shortly.<br/>
Baekhyun’s eyes went wider in surprise.<br/>
“Oh, Chanyeol, I didn’t drink enough for this. And you will regret it tomorrow” he stated but Chanyeol shook his head briefly.<br/>
“I have some bottle of exquisite wine at home and let me decide if I will regret it or not” he replied making Baekhyun slowly lick his lips, biting them softly.<br/>
“Are you tempting me, Park?” he asked him and Chanyeol chuckled shortly.<br/>
“Are we back to surname? And I don’t think I need to, since what you said before. I think I can fit quite well your kind of man” he replied and Baekhyun chuckled, thanking Mark with a wink when he brought him the coffee.<br/>
Mark blushed softly, bowing and walking away, making Baekhyun smirk again.<br/>
“Fine, Chanyeol. Let’s try it then?” he concluded, drinking the coffee almost in one go and Chanyeol sat up in the same moment Baekhyun put down the cup.<br/>
“How did you come here?” Baekhyun asked him while they were waiting at the cashier to pay.<br/>
Chanyeol chuckled.<br/>
“Driver obviously. I said I would have called him when I was done. Do you want me to…” he started but Baekhyun showed him the key of the car, shaking his head.<br/>
“I’ve no driver. I’m my driver” he replied and Chanyeol huffed briefly, shaking his head but smile still present on his lips.<br/>
Chanyeol paid everything as promised, even if the bill was higher than Baekhyun expected.<br/>
They walked outside in the parking and Baekhyun clicked on the remote, unlocking the door of his car.<br/>
“Where do you live?” he asked him, sitting on the driver seat and pulling the security belt.<br/>
“Near Gangnam. Highest floor of one of the tallest building of the area” he replied and Baekhyun chuckled.<br/>
“Should I be impressed?” he asked starting the engine and Chanyeol shrugged.<br/>
“Usually it works, especially when people see the skyline that it’s visible from up there” he replied but Baekhyun hummed in thought.<br/>
“Actually that can be pretty kinky? I mean, I like the idea of…” Baekhyun started but Chanyeol slapped his arm not so gently, blush clear on his cheeks.<br/>
“What?” Baekhyun asked and Chanyeol’s expression was almost shocked.<br/>
“Where is your romantic side?” he asked him and Baekhyun chuckled again, stopping at a traffic light.<br/>
“Romantic? I lost it a long time ago” he replied, carding his finger in his hair and slightly messing it up.<br/>
And before Chanyeol could add anything, Baekhyun fixed his stare on the street.<br/>
“Now where?” he asked him when they arrived in Gangnam area.<br/>
He followed Chanyeol’s direction diligently until the parking lot of a tall, all glass building.<br/>
Baekhyun whistled in appreciation.<br/>
“Not so bad?” he commented, parking in the first place that was free.<br/>
“You will see from the last floor” Chanyeol commented and Baekhyun locked his car before following Chanyeol in the elevator.<br/>
Chanyeol inputted a code to access the last floor and Baekhyun whistled again.<br/>
“Super reserved and super security” he added making Chanyeol chuckled before he could take his phone from the inside pocket of his jacket.<br/>
He phoned his driver telling him that there wasn’t any need to bring him back home.<br/>
He didn’t mention any reason why and Baekhyun was almost grateful about it.<br/>
When they reached the last floor, Chanyeol showed him around, even if the last floor only had small corridor before the only door of all the floor, Chanyeol’s.<br/>
He opened with a key and code and pushed it open for Baekhyun.<br/>
“Welcome?” he whispered and Baekhyun was indeed impressed with the view.<br/>
It was all glasses, so lighted up even if it was night.<br/>
The décor of the house was minimalistic and linear, on the colors of beige and white.<br/>
“Did I impress you?” Chanyeol asked him and Baekhyun chuckled softly before nodding shortly.<br/>
“It would impress me better with a glass of wine in hand” he replied and Chanyeol smiled at him, turning on the lights in the house, and walking toward the kitchen.<br/>
Near the fridge, there was a small selection of wines, with notable names from around the world.<br/>
Baekhyun, being almost a connoisseur of wines, was pleased by finding also wine from Italy and France.<br/>
“Choose whatever suits you best” Chanyeol told him and Baekhyun neared the wall, humming and going for a Passito wine.<br/>
“Sweet will taste good since we already had dinner” he whispered and stare inquiring Chanyeol to see if he was okay with the choice.<br/>
Chanyeol chuckled softly.<br/>
“Who knew that you really were an expert of wines” he replied and Baekhyun smiled softly, gesturing him for a corkscrew.<br/>
Chanyeol leant in and took one from a small drawer near the fridge.<br/>
Baekhyun slowly opened the bottle and Chanyeol took two glassed.<br/>
“Want to sit down?” Chanyeol proposed gesturing the couch in front of the main glass window.<br/>
Baekhyun followed him, putting the bottle on the small table in front of the couch and pulling at his necktie, freeing himself of it.<br/>
“Sorry, but I can’t stand formal clothes at all” he whispered pulling it completely away, together with his cufflinks that finished in the internal pocket of the jacket.<br/>
Chanyeol shook his head shortly, shortly pulling at his necktie too but without taking it off.<br/>
Baekhyun instead took off also the jacket, throwing it on the back of the couch.<br/>
He started rolling up sleeves too while he sat near Chanyeol who poured the wine inside the glasses.<br/>
“I wouldn’t say you were a wine expert either” Baekhyun whispered taking the glass and making it clink with Chanyeol’s.<br/>
Chanyeol nodded briefly.<br/>
“It’s one of the many perks of being awfully rich” he replied making Baekhyun chuckle before drinking a sip of the wine.<br/>
It was sweet and almost fortified.<br/>
It tasted well on Baekhyun’s tongue who hummed softly in contentment.<br/>
“I like it” he whispered, stare moving toward Chanyeol who nodded shortly.<br/>
“I ordered it directly from Italy thanks to the owner of Viva Polo” he replied and Baekhyun nodded briefly.<br/>
“Italian wines are so good. I was drunk almost everyday when I went to Italy” he added chuckling, remembering his adventures in Italy.<br/>
Every place he went people offered him something local to eat and to drink and by drink they almost every time meant something based on wine.<br/>
Chanyeol chuckled softly too.<br/>
“Must be nice travelling around the world” he whispered and Baekhyun sighed softly, drinking another bit, shifting his stare to the panorama outside the windows.<br/>
“It is. Even when you see the worst of human nature. There’s always something good to find in the most unexpected places” he replied and Chanyeol hummed briefly.<br/>
“Will you ever tell me all the things you went through these years?” he asked him and Baekhyun chuckled, emptying his glass and pouring himself another one.<br/>
“In what are you interested? Nice things? Bad things? Food related things? Places? Sexual practices?” he inquired, stare moving again on Chanyeol’s face and he blushed softly at the last mention.<br/>
Before Chanyeol could comment anything, Baekhyun chuckled.<br/>
“You didn’t change at all for what concern sex, always so shy and soft” he whispered, hand moving to gently caress Chanyeol’s thigh.<br/>
Chanyeol stared back at him, biting his lips and Baekhyun wondered if they tasted like he remembered or if they changed.<br/>
“At least I am slightly more experienced?” he suggested making Baekhyun smile softly, emptying also that glass, before putting it down to the small table.<br/>
“Both with men and women, I suppose” he added, softly, fingers moving from Chanyeol’s thigh to his torso, imperceptibly leaning in and Chanyeol emptied his glass too, putting it down to the table.<br/>
“Well, I like to explore both things. Is it a problem?” he asked and Baekhyun chuckled, tantalizingly near to Chanyeol’s lips, fingers playing with the knot of his necktie.<br/>
“As long as you still like men, I see no problem” he replied, pulling slightly at the necktie and finally meeting his lips with Chanyeol’s who gasped softly at the sudden contact.<br/>
Baekhyun licked Chanyeol’s bottom lip, almost forcing his way in, fingers moving on the back of his head and pulling him near.<br/>
Chanyeol’s hands went immediately to card in Baekhyun’s hair, caressing softly and opening up for Baekhyun.<br/>
It was passionate as if both of them waited twelve years only for that moment to realize again.<br/>
It felt like an explosion and Baekhyun knew that he missed it like the first day he was apart from Chanyeol.<br/>
And apart for the Passito taste, they tasted as Baekhyun remembered.<br/>
“Baekhyun…” Chanyeol whispered in the kiss and Baekhyun stared at him, waiting, fingers moving again to his neck.<br/>
“You taste even better that I remember” he whispered and Baekhyun chuckled, moving softly and sitting on Chanyeol’s laps.<br/>
“Is it the wine to speak?” he asked him, leaning in, almost kissing him but without closing the small gap between them.<br/>
“Maybe?” he replied and Baekhyun smirked softly, closing the distance and pulling at his necktie, taking it off completely and throwing it near them on the couch.<br/>
They kissed in silence, hands starting to explore everything reachable.<br/>
Baekhyun unbuttoned Chanyeol’s shirt, fingers running along his sides and tracing the profiles of his ribs and collarbones, finally reaching his nipples.<br/>
Chanyeol groaned in the kiss and Baekhyun detached from Chanyeol’s lips to kiss his cheeks and moving to his ear, softly biting it, while pinching one of his nipples.<br/>
Chanyeol bit his lips, hands clenching on Baekhyun’s side.<br/>
“Baek…” he sighed and Baekhyun smiled softly.<br/>
“Do you like this?” he whispered at his ear, repeating the gesture and Chanyeol bit his lips harder.<br/>
“I think no one can hear you up here, you know?” he whispered softly before moving his lips on Chanyeol’s neck, kissing him gently before biting him a little bit harder, and making him muffle a moan.<br/>
“Such a nice sound” Baekhyun whispered, licking his collarbones and starting again to play with his nipples.<br/>
Chanyeol was a miracle under his fingers and lips.<br/>
So perfectly toned and fitted and so sensitive and sensual.<br/>
Baekhyun liked everything of him.<br/>
Including his royal gold hair, passing from his amber skin and his abs.<br/>
And how, even if they had a great height difference, Baekhyun could totally picture Chanyeol moaning and pleading under him.<br/>
“Baekhyun” Chanyeol whispered, carding his fingers in Baekhyun’s hair and slightly pulling every time that Baekhyun bit him harder or pinched harder on his nipples.<br/>
“Do you have any preferences?” Baekhyun asked him, before leaning in and gently licking Chanyeol’s nipple, making him repress a groan, biting his lips.<br/>
“Actually, I’ve never…” he started and Baekhyun smirked at him.<br/>
“No way, Mr. rich boy. I won’t bottom, not with you not tonight” he declared and Chanyeol bit again his lips.<br/>
“I don’t know where to start from then” he replied and Baekhyun sat up from his laps, offering his hand to him.<br/>
“Show me your room” he almost ordered him and Chanyeol took his hand, showing him the way there.<br/>
Chanyeol’s bedroom was in a world huge.<br/>
He didn’t have an extra-large king bed.<br/>
He had a triple x large king bed.<br/>
His closet was immense.<br/>
“Do they even sell blanket this big?” Baekhyun asked him slightly pushing him on the bed.<br/>
Chanyeol sat and chuckled again shaking his head.<br/>
“Taylor made” he replied and Baekhyun snorted.<br/>
“Another perk of being rich?” he asked him and when Chanyeol nodded, he shook his head, started unbuttoning his own shirt.<br/>
He felt Chanyeol’s stare on him and he took it even slower.<br/>
“Like the show?” he asked and Chanyeol nodded without shifting his stare away.<br/>
Baekhyun took it off, putting it on the back of a chair.<br/>
“Aren’t you too dressed to teach you something about bottoming?” he asked him and Chanyeol chuckled taking off also his shirt and starting fidgeting with the button of his trousers.<br/>
“Do you have lube?” Baekhyun asked him softly, like it was the most innocent question ever.<br/>
“Second drawer” Chanyeol replied, pulling off his trousers and Baekhyun took the tube before returning to where Chanyeol was sitting.<br/>
He leant in kissing him again, this time slower, caressing his cheeks and gently guiding him to lay down on the bed, hovering on him, hands moving to his sides, softly, almost imperceptibly.<br/>
Chanyeol’s skin was soft under his fingers and shortly erupted in goosebumps at his ministrations.<br/>
“If there’s something, anything you don’t like, tell me” Baekhyun whispered in the kiss and Chanyeol softly nodded, biting Baekhyun’s lips and making him groan.<br/>
“I took it as your consent?” he concluded before shifting again, licking his neck and softly nibbling at his collarbones.<br/>
“Yes, please” Chanyeol whispered, fingers carding again in Baekhyun’s hair and Baekhyun smiled briefly, before moving to his nipples, teasing them with the tip of his tongue, making Chanyeol almost whimper in pleasure.<br/>
“Already pleading? Isn’t it a bit early?” he asked, biting one of them and pinching the other.<br/>
Chanyeol arched his back, making his erection brush with Baekhyun’s who groaned, pinching slightly harder Chanyeol’s nipple, making him moan harder.<br/>
“You are so beautiful, Chanyeol, so sensual” he whispered, licking again at his nipple, before caressing Chanyeol’s abs down to the waistband of his boxer, slowly playing with it and clearly teasing Chanyeol who huffed briefly, biting again his lips.<br/>
“And you are such a tease…” he replied making Baekhyun smile, before pulling at his boxer, revealing Chanyeol’s already half-hard erection.<br/>
Baekhyun whistled in appreciation, fingers gently touching the tip where some precum beads already formed.<br/>
“Can I suck you off a bit?” he asked him and Chanyeol’s erection twitched under Baekhyun’s touch, making the reply obvious.<br/>
“I think you would like it” he added and Chanyeol groaned in embarrassment but Baekhyun was already leaning down, licking his erection, collecting the precum beads on the tip.<br/>
“Baek…” Chanyeol sighed softly, caressing his hair and Baekhyun smiled softly.<br/>
Chanyeol was everything Baekhyun could dream of in a man.<br/>
Beautiful, sexy, handsome and sensitive.<br/>
Baekhyun licked his lips before leaning in and taking Chanyeol’s erection in his mouth.<br/>
Chanyeol softly pulled at his hair, repressing a soft moan and Baekhyun started to suck him slowly, feeling him growing thicker in his mouth.<br/>
It was a while since last time Baekhyun sucked off someone, but he could clearly state that he loved the feeling of Chanyeol’s thickness in his mouth.<br/>
He set a slightly faster pace, adjusting to Chanyeol’s need and how he moved under him, thrusting inside the warmth of Baekhyun’s mouth.<br/>
Baekhyun’s fingers went to gently squeeze Chanyeol’s balls, quickening his pace, and feeling Chanyeol’s hand pulling slightly harder in his hair.<br/>
“Baek…” he moaned, starting to thrust deeper in Baekhyun’s mouth and Baekhyun thanked again the almost complete lack of gag reflex, taking Chanyeol’s now fully erected shaft in his mouth.<br/>
“Pull off” Chanyeol whispered but Baekhyun didn’t even think about it.<br/>
He wanted to taste Chanyeol and wanted to feel him come inside his mouth.<br/>
So he simply continued sucking him off, massaging his balls, and increasing furthermore the pace of his ministrations.<br/>
Chanyeol came moaning his name and Baekhyun sucked him off until the very end, swallowing every single drop of his cum.<br/>
He pulled off with a lousy pop, looking satisfied at Chanyeol, sweaty and aroused under him.<br/>
“You look so sensual, you know?” Baekhyun asked him and Chanyeol smiled softly and, heavens, where was Baekhyun’s camera when he needed the most?<br/>
He wanted to take at least one hundred pics of that moment.<br/>
Baekhyun leant in softly kissing him, even if it kept it short since he tasted like Chanyeol’s cum.<br/>
He softly caressed Chanyeol’s thigh, gently pushing them apart, opening the bottle of lube.<br/>
Baekhyun poured a plentiful on his fingers, smearing it properly before nearing Chanyeol’s entrance.<br/>
“Talk to me” Baekhyun stated before circling his entrance with his index finger, slowly, teasingly, making Chanyeol bit his lips softly.<br/>
“Don’t bite” he whispered to Chanyeol, freeing his lips from his bite and squeezing his hand in his.<br/>
“If it hurts, stop me. If you can stand it, squeeze on my hand” he added and Chanyeol nodded softly.<br/>
But Baekhyun wasn’t satisfied.<br/>
“Chanyeol… I need you to speak with me” he whispered, squeezing again his hand and stopping every other movement.<br/>
“If it hurts, I’ll tell you” he replied, voice low and a bit raspy.<br/>
“Perfect” Baekhyun concluded, starting to slowly pushing in his finger, meeting a fair resistance but not as much as he expected.<br/>
He pushed it in in a single thrust, feeling Chanyeol squeezing his hand, letting out a small groan.<br/>
“Do you ever… finger yourself?” Baekhyun whispered, leaning in and starting to softly kiss his neck and shoulders, try to ease him and starting to move the finger inside him.<br/>
Chanyeol groaned again, squeezing a bit harder on Baekhyun’s hand.<br/>
“Sometimes… yes” he replied voice soft and lower than usual, resounding deeply inside Baekhyun and making his erection ache inside his trousers, asking for attentions too.<br/>
“Oh, so you like this kind of sensation” he asked him, biting Chanyeol’s neck and sucking a hickey there.<br/>
Chanyeol moaned harder, gripping harder on Baekhyun’s hand and Baekhyun decided to try pushing in another finger, slowly, without any hurry.<br/>
Chanyeol took it in way too well, only gripping a bit harder on Baekhyun but without any complaints.<br/>
“You are taking them so well, Chanyeol” he whispered, kissing and biting again his neck, starting to thrust his fingers inside Chanyeol, making him adjust around the insertion.<br/>
Chanyeol moaned softly, gripping Baekhyun’s hand and following Baekhyun’s thrusts, matching them with his own movements.<br/>
Baekhyun was amazed but Chanyeol’s beauty, by how perfect and beautiful he was while he fingered him open.<br/>
Baekhyun knew that he shouldn’t be letting himself go to that, because it implied feeling that weren’t meant to be, but Chanyeol was too perfect.<br/>
Sweaty, sparkling under the lights, moaning and taking his fingers so well.<br/>
Baekhyun inserted a third one, stretching him even more, hitting his prostate and making him moan harder, calling his name and gripping impossibly harder on Baekhyun’s hand.<br/>
“Baekhyun, more” he moaned and Baekhyun didn’t need him to repeat himself, thrusting inside him faster, hitting his soft spot repeatedly.<br/>
Chanyeol moaned again, stare shifting on him, eyes full blown, hair sticking to his forehead and lips parted and swollen.<br/>
Baekhyun didn’t have words.<br/>
Didn’t need words.<br/>
Chanyeol was the only thing that mattered in that moment.<br/>
“I want you” he whispered and Chanyeol nodded briefly.<br/>
Baekhyun sat up immediately taking off his trousers and boxer, going to the drawer when he saw condoms and took one.<br/>
Without any further hesitation, he ripped the package open, rolling it on his erection already so hard it hurt.<br/>
He positioned himself between Chanyeol’s legs, taking again his hand.<br/>
“Stop me…” he started softly but Chanyeol pulled him down kissing him, gently.<br/>
“If it hurts, if I can stand it I’ll squeeze your hand” he completed for him and Baekhyun smiled at him, kissing him again briefly before guiding his erection toward Chanyeol’s entrance.<br/>
He inhaled deeply, leaning his forehead with Chanyeol’s and starting to slowly thrust inside Chanyeol, biting his lips, containing the instinct to thrust inside him without waiting any more.<br/>
Chanyeol squeezed his hand harder than before, breath coming shortly and Baekhyun caressed Chanyeol’s thigh gently, kissing his neck.<br/>
“Relax, I’m here” he whispered softly and Chanyeol nodded briefly.<br/>
“I’m not made of glass” he replied briefly and Baekhyun kissed his neck again.<br/>
“I know, just relax for me” he added before thrusting the rest of his erection in.<br/>
Chanyeol was so tight and Baekhyun wanted so much to thrust inside him and simply come, but restrained himself, waiting for Chanyeol to adjust at the insertion.<br/>
Chanyeol gripped slightly harder Baekhyun’s hand but then started to let go a bit, relaxing.<br/>
Baekhyun continued to kiss his neck, fingers caressing his side.<br/>
“You can move” Chanyeol whispered and Baekhyun nodded shortly, starting a slow pace to his thrust inside him, making Chanyeol moan softly hand gripping again on Baekhyun’s.<br/>
“You are taking me so well, Chanyeol” he whispered and Chanyeol moaned again.<br/>
“You are so thick, Baekhyun… This filling sensation, I love it…” he replied and Baekhyun bit his lips because how could Chanyeol be so sexy and telling him these things expecting him not to thrust harder inside him?<br/>
But Baekhyun contained himself, following Chanyeol’s rhythm, thrusting inside him steadily.<br/>
“And you are so tight, you know? And so sexy” he whispered to his ear before softly biting him.<br/>
Chanyeol arched his back, meeting better Baekhyun’s thrusts and giving him access to his prostate.<br/>
Baekhyun hit it, softly making Chanyeol moan louder, gripping harder on Baekhyun’s hand.<br/>
“Baek, please, there” he pleaded and Baekhyun compiled immediately, thrusting quicker and steadier, hitting his soft spot more and more, making Chanyeol a moaning mess under him.<br/>
Baekhyun never saw something as beautiful and as perfect as Chanyeol was in that moment.<br/>
He wanted to feel him more, to make him feel more of himself.<br/>
Caressing his abs, his fingers gripped Chanyeol’s erection starting to stroke him, matching his thrusts inside Chanyeol and making him whimper.<br/>
“More” Chanyeol asked him, squeezing Baekhyun inside him and Baekhyun obeyed, quickening his pace inside and outside Chanyeol, who started a small mantra of pleases until he came unexpectedly on Baekhyun’s fingers, squeezing him inside even harder, making Baekhyun groan.<br/>
He moved his hand from Chanyeol’s erection to his side and thrusted harder inside him, feeling his release drawing neared and feeling Chanyeol squeeze him again, calling his name and he came harder inside Chanyeol, biting his shoulder and gripping harder Chanyeol’s hand still intertwined with his.<br/>
He was panting, breath coming shorter, feeling sweaty and sticky but sated as he never felt before in his life.<br/>
Baekhyun was struck by the realization that he never had a sexual experience better than the one he just had with Chanyeol.<br/>
It felt like the planets alignment was corrected and the universe was once again in order and nothing seemed as beautiful as that very moment.<br/>
“You are beautiful” he whispered toward Chanyeol that smiled at him softly, shaking his head.<br/>
“You are, Baekhyun. And this is was the best intercourse of my whole life” he replied making Baekhyun chuckle softly.<br/>
“Mine too” he added and Chanyeol nodded briefly.<br/>
“Even if I totally need a shower, now?” he noted and Baekhyun hummed, gently exiting Chanyeol making him scrunch his nose in pain.<br/>
“You okay?” Baekhyun asked him and Chanyeol nodded softly, sitting up and kissing his cheek.<br/>
“Never been better” he replied before taking his hand and guiding him toward the bathroom, that was another huge room.<br/>
Chanyeol started the water and when it was of the right temperature, he entered under the shower, pulling Baekhyun with him.<br/>
“You have a lot of scars” Chanyeol noted while they were lathering themselves and Baekhyun forced a small smile.<br/>
“My trophies, you mean?” he replied, jokingly but Chanyeol gently caressed the one on his shoulder, the newer one and his memory from Bolivia.<br/>
“This one seems to be newer?” he asked him and Baekhyun hummed shortly.<br/>
“Bolivia. A man tried to kill me with a knife” he replied making Chanyeol frown.<br/>
“Too dangerous” he observed but Baekhyun sighed softly.<br/>
“It’s the price for the information I could write in my article” he concluded, washing up of all the shampoo and soap.<br/>
They dried up and Chanyeol almost forced Baekhyun to lay down again with him.<br/>
Baekhyun opened his arms, embracing Chanyeol who snuggled his nose in Baekhyun’s neck.<br/>
“Goodnight” he whispered and Baekhyun hummed softly.<br/>
“’Night” he replied, even if in his head there were a lot of scenarios that would follow that night.<br/>
He told Chanyeol that he would have regretted that night, but maybe he mistook.<br/>
It was Baekhyun who started regretting it, wondering what would it be of what he felt, and not only physically, for Chanyeol.</p><p><br/>
Baekhyun woke up the day after in a weird haze not completely realizing where he was or why he was feeling a weight on his arm.<br/>
He opened his eyes, looking at a ceiling that wasn't his and when, turning his head on the side he saw Chanyeol's soft sleeping face, he wanted to facepalm so bad because... How in the world he thought it was a good idea having sex with Chanyeol?<br/>
After all those years and knowing that his feelings weren't the same?<br/>
Chanyeol didn't feel the same for Baekhyun.<br/>
And his feelings weren't meant to be.<br/>
Not in that moment nor never.<br/>
He was still too damn attracted to Chanyeol and the feelings were meddling with his usual rational thoughts.<br/>
He slowly replaced his arm with the pillow for not waking Chanyeol up and started dressing in silence, picking up the jacket on the couch.<br/>
He sighed deeply before brushing his hair with his fingers and making them not so messier and went away without writing anything to Chanyeol.<br/>
He thought about leaving a small message, but he didn't know what was best to write.<br/>
"Tonight I had the time of my life but we can't see anymore"? <br/>
"I liked everything this night, but I have still feelings you don't have for me so bye"?<br/>
"It was all in your dreams, please continue to despise me as you did since when I came back to Korea"? <br/>
He sighed riding the elevator until the parking lot and unlocking the car, sitting inside. <br/>
He felt his pockets for a packet of cigarettes realizing that he hadn't any and that probably it fell on the floor of Chanyeol's apartment. <br/>
He sighed even deeper driving to the first minimarket where he bought cigarettes and canned coffee, before going home.<br/>
Once there he sat at his desk, after changing in something more comfortable and putting on his glasses deciding to do something done with his work and the articles starting to piling up on his desk and in his computer.<br/>
He was working, sorting out papers and files, when his phone went off, Chanyeol's ID appearing on the screen.<br/>
Baekhyun was really tempted to leave it ringing but he picked up the call.<br/>
"Hey" he replied softly and Chanyeol yawned on the other side.<br/>
"Hey you. You could have woken me up... We could have had breakfast together?" he asked him but Baekhyun sighed softly, shaking his head and pulling off his glasses.<br/>
It wasn’t in that way that things could go between them.<br/>
Too easy to forget feelings, past and whatever other things.<br/>
It wasn’t possible.<br/>
"It was something of a single night, Chanyeol. It just happened and then we are again back to our lives" he stated and Chanyeol hummed shortly.<br/>
"Why not keeping it as simple sex? It was perfect last night" he stated and Baekhyun frowned. <br/>
"I..." He started saying but Chanyeol stopped him immediately. <br/>
"We had sex also in the past, no? We are adult now and we don't need to mix things with feelings" he added and Baekhyun inhaled deeply.<br/>
He had oh so many feelings for him.<br/>
So many he could write a book.<br/>
But Chanyeol was right.<br/>
Last night was perfect and Baekhyun loved every single moment of it.<br/>
He felt so good and Baekhyun felt like ages since he had a partner and he kind of missed the sensations of having sex with someone.<br/>
Would he be able to keep their relationship only on the physical side?<br/>
Really not mixing it with all the feelings he had for Chanyeol?<br/>
It's just for few months, before you go away again, Byun, don't be a coward - his self remembered himself and Baekhyun sighed again.<br/>
"Are you sure your paparazzi will be fine with you fucking around with your most hated reporter?" he asked him and Chanyeol chuckled softly.<br/>
"I don't care about it. It wouldn't be the first time I fuck around with someone I despised as much as you" he replied and Baekhyun kind of hurt to hear those words, but he shook the feelings away.<br/>
He didn’t need them in all of that story.<br/>
"Fine then. In the next days I'll be busy with the meetings for promoting Xing's Institute but maybe this weekend...?" he proposed and Chanyeol hummed in thoughts.<br/>
"Maybe we will be able to see each other also to one of those meetings. You know, I'm sending a lot of money to them" he added and Baekhyun chuckled. <br/>
"Rich boy Park don't mess up with my public self. In private we can have this... Thing, but my public life and career is untouchable" he whispered making Chanyeol snort but before he could comment, Baekhyun stopped him. <br/>
"And I mean it, Chanyeol. If I will ever write something about you and Park Corporation I don't want people to think that I did it because we were having sex. I worked very hard to be where I am right now" he declared and Chanyeol agreed to it, obediently.<br/>
"Perfect. See you around then?" he concluded before greeting him again and hanging up the call.<br/>
What was he even thinking?<br/>
Agreeing with Chanyeol's suggestion?<br/>
He sighed deeply putting his glass back on and forcing those thoughts away focusing again on what he was writing.</p><p>Baekhyun and Chanyeol started in that way their sexual relationship.<br/>
They met usually on weekends and to after parties of some meetings and events they attended.<br/>
They didn't need words.<br/>
They were naturally attracted to each other and simple gestures or stares made them know what they wanted.<br/>
As Kyungsoo said once they were made to be around each other.<br/>
Despite his initial thoughts, Baekhyun was forced to face his feelings.<br/>
Baekhyun was in love with Chanyeol.<br/>
Falling in love deeper and deeper because he felt even better than when they were in high school.<br/>
Despite what Yoora told him, Baekhyun didn't manage to see Chanyeol's old self.<br/>
They simply... Had sex.<br/>
Spoke about small nothings but nothing serious.<br/>
They didn't speak about feelings about their relationship... Nothing.<br/>
Baekhyun kept telling himself that it would be just for a while more. <br/>
Just until he wouldn't go away again but he also kept procrastinating his departure. <br/>
Always telling Junmyeon that he had other small works and things to settle in Korea, always finding small articles to write just not to go away.<br/>
It was oh so clear that he was simply delaying constantly his departure just to stay a while more with Chanyeol.<br/>
Because what he had with Chanyeol was in a word addicting.<br/>
He was addicted to his perfume, to the feeling of his skin under his fingers, to holding him in the most unlikely places and sometimes even pushing their luck a bit too much.<br/>
Baekhyun was addicted to everything regarding Chanyeol.<br/>
He loved how Chanyeol would get possessive if Baekhyun ignored him enough during the evening.<br/>
Or how Chanyeol liked to leave marks and signs on Baekhyun’s skin.<br/>
How he was demanding and sensitive while they were having sex and Baekhyun would have done everything just to please him and satisfy every single desire Chanyeol could have.<br/>
Baekhyun loved everything of what he had with Chanyeol and that complicity they only had with each other.<br/>
Enough to forget that it was only a sex matter, without any feeling in between.</p><p><br/>
One of the many works Baekhyun took staying in Seoul was trying to understand the dynamics beyond underground music panorama and linked raves.<br/>
Not that Baekhyun was particularly fan of underground, electronic music.<br/>
But he couldn’t refuse Junmyeon’s proposal, especially not after he kept refusing to leave for Iran to that infamous article on musical instrument, not offering any explanation about his reticence to Junmyeon.<br/>
So, he started attending underground parties and raves.<br/>
He even got a separated clothes collection dedicated only to those parties.<br/>
Baekhyun found those parties strangely attractive and kind of enjoyed them.<br/>
Seoul got quite international and open in those events, not judging sexual orientations or preferences.<br/>
That night, Baekhyun pushed his hair back, styling as he was once again a teenager more than in his thirties, wearing smoky eyeshadow and eyeliner.<br/>
He even produced some leather trousers that could belong to the eighties and a black silk shirt that complimented his physique more than Baekhyun cared to admit.<br/>
He was fixing the last details when he received a call from Chanyeol.<br/>
“Are you up to something tonight?” Chanyeol asked him after usual greetings and Baekhyun chuckled softly.<br/>
“Actually I have an undercover work scheduled for tonight. Maybe tomorrow?” he replied shortly and Chanyeol huffed briefly.<br/>
“Nothing that can wait tomorrow?” he asked again but Baekhyun hummed in thought.<br/>
“No, Chanyeol. I have to… It’s the only night it’s possible” he replied again and Chanyeol wasn’t exactly happy, but agreed.<br/>
Baekhyun finished to prepare and then went away.<br/>
He took the metro instead of the usual car because he realized that it was faster and also he could drink a bit more without having to drive later.<br/>
Baekhyun greeted the man at the entrance, who was always the same and showed his invitation.<br/>
He let him enter and Baekhyun was immediately surrounded by lights and music, nearing the counter where a really cute and way too young bartender was serving drinks.<br/>
“Aren’t you too young to be here?” he asked him and the boy flushed a bit, shaking his head.<br/>
“Aren’t you asking the wrong questions?” he retorted, making Baekhyun laugh briefly.<br/>
“Relax, boy, and make me a mojito, please” he stated and the boy smiled at him starting to make his cocktail.<br/>
Baekhyun paid for it and then went away with it, mixing in the crowd.<br/>
He was dancing around, observing people around him, how they behaved with each other.<br/>
Baekhyun loved the anthropological aspects of those parties.<br/>
They made him feel like human being was born just to witness such a complex ritual.<br/>
He was too focused on observing people around him to actually notice everything else.<br/>
So he was startled when two hands and a familiar expensive cologne surprised him from behind, slightly touching his back.<br/>
“Weren’t you working tonight?” Chanyeol whispered in his ear, making him shiver.<br/>
“Chanyeol?” he asked him perplexed, turning around and meeting stunning, sparkling, hot prince Park Chanyeol.<br/>
He was wearing trousers similar to Baekhyun’s who was definitely too tight and a dark wine satin shirt, slightly opened on the front, revealing his neck and collarbones.<br/>
His hair was perfectly styled and Baekhyun had to grip harder on his glass not to move his hand on Chanyeol, caressing his torso and pushing him in the first free bathroom and fuck him senseless.<br/>
Chanyeol chuckled shortly, looking toward him, stare inquiring Baekhyun’s whole being.<br/>
“I didn’t picture you as an underground music fan” he stated and Baekhyun snorted, shaking his head.<br/>
“Didn’t I tell you? Undercover work. I’m writing an article on these parties and how they work and why they are important in young culture” he replied, nodding toward the people who were dancing not so distant from them.<br/>
“You mix up quite well” Chanyeol noted, fingers moving to Baekhyun’s side, caressing him slowly and Baekhyun huffed, shaking his head.<br/>
“What should I say about you being here?” he replied drinking a sip of his cocktail and Chanyeol hummed briefly.<br/>
“Actually I invited someone out tonight, but he refused me to do some undercover work, so I came alone?” he replied and Baekhyun shook his head.<br/>
“You wanted to invite me, here?” he asked him and Chanyeol nodded shortly making Baekhyun chuckle again.<br/>
“Oh heavens, Park. Aren’t we too old for this?” he continued but Chanyeol shook his head.<br/>
“We are both here, if I’m not mistaking?” Chanyeol observed and Baekhyun bit his lips softly.<br/>
“Are you hinting to something?” he continued and Chanyeol leant down.<br/>
“I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?” he whispered softly and Baekhyun couldn’t refrain to move his hand to card in Chanyeol’s hair, pulling him down, closing the distance between them but not completely, lips merely an inch apart.<br/>
“Do you want to play? Because I’m more than up to it tonight” he muttered back, feeling Chanyeol’s hand gripping harder on his side, clearly seeing lust in his stare.<br/>
“Come dance with me?” Baekhyun proposed him, emptying his glass and Chanyeol nodded, imitating his gesture and pulling Baekhyun with him among the crowd.<br/>
It was ages since last time Baekhyun danced like that with someone.<br/>
Personal space was inexistent.<br/>
All his senses focused on Chanyeol’s body glued to his, hands reaching every possible spot touchable, almost at the limit with indecent.<br/>
Baekhyun was feeling hot and sweaty but Chanyeol was so perfect near him that nothing else mattered.<br/>
Only them and what was happening between them.<br/>
Chanyeol was sweaty too, brightly sparkling under the blue and green lights of the club, making Baekhyun want to touch him even more.<br/>
He never felt a desired that strong as in that moment.<br/>
Neither for Chanyeol himself, let alone for any other person.<br/>
And somehow Chanyeol felt the same.<br/>
He leant in, whispering a low and lustful I want you in Baekhyun’s ear before biting it not so gently and Baekhyun had to repress a groan, hand gripping harder on Chanyeol’s side.<br/>
“Come with me” he ordered taking his hand and leading him through the club and then in a narrow corridor toward the back of the club.<br/>
“Baek, where…?” Chanyeol started but Baekhyun knew exactly where they were going, seeing him boys and girls doing the same almost every week since almost four months.<br/>
“I want you too. And I want you right now. Can’t wait to reach home” he stated, almost pushing Chanyeol inside a small bathroom who seemed to be private compared to others.<br/>
Baekhyun locked the door behind him, slightly pushing Chanyeol toward the wall in front of the door.<br/>
The light wasn’t exactly the best, being it faint and bluet, but was definitely enough for whatever was bound to happen there.<br/>
“You know this place better than I expected, do I have to…” Chanyeol started but Baekhyun pulled him down, shutting up with a kiss.<br/>
It wasn’t sweet.<br/>
It was wanting and passionate, demanding more touch, more wetness, tongue immediately licking its way in Chanyeol’s mouth.<br/>
“Never thought I would use this small secret room too” Baekhyun stated between the kisses, hand caressing Chanyeol’s torso, making him shiver.<br/>
“You look stunning tonight, Baekhyun” Chanyeol commented and Baekhyun chuckled softly.<br/>
“What should I say, prince sparkling? Wine red suits you way too much” he retorted, lips moving to Chanyeol’s neck and biting him.<br/>
Chanyeol groaned, fingers carding in Baekhyun’s hair, pulling him closer to him.<br/>
“Well you like wine, no?” he noted, repressing another groan when Baekhyun started sucking a hickey on his neck.<br/>
“I love it” he concluded, starting to unbutton Chanyeol’s shirt, fingers caressing everything beneath it, along his sides, his abs and also his nipples.<br/>
They were already a little bit swollen, making Baekhyun want to bite them.<br/>
“You are a wonder of nature, Chanyeol. Always so sexy and so sensitive…” he whispered, leaning in and licking one, earning himself a moan and another pull of hair from Chanyeol.<br/>
“And you are always the same tease?” he commented out of breath, making Baekhyun chuckle.<br/>
“Do you want me to be rougher? No foreplay, only sex?” he asked briefly, detaching from him and he could clearly see the reply already in Chanyeol’s wanting stare.<br/>
“For tonight, I think it’s more suitable?” Chanyeol whispered, voice getting even lower and deeper, echoing inside Baekhyun and pressing the right switches to turn him on.<br/>
“So…” Baekhyun started but Chanyeol pressed a fingers on Baekhyun’s lips, caressing them gently.<br/>
“So fuck me” he boldly stated and Baekhyun didn’t make him repeat himself.<br/>
“Turn around” he ordered him, and when he did, Baekhyun pressed him slightly against the wall.<br/>
“I don’t have any lube. How do we do?” he whispered, caressing Chanyeol’s tights over his trousers and making him sigh deeply.<br/>
“Saliva?” he replied and Baekhyun chuckled.<br/>
“Unbuckle your trousers, then. And let me entertain you a bit” he concluded, squeezing his buttock, earning himself another groan.<br/>
Chanyeol obeyed and Baekhyun pressed softly on his back, making him leaning forward, before kneeling down, pulling Chanyeol’s boxer down with him.<br/>
Without waiting for Chanyeol’s sign, he covered his own fingers in a thick layer of saliva, popping them out of his mouth with a lousy pop.<br/>
Baekhyun leant in, licking flatly Chanyeol’s entrance before teasing him with a finger, softly, gently pressing not totally inserting.<br/>
“I can take a bit of pain” Chanyeol whispered but Baekhyun gripped harder on his buttock.<br/>
“Sure and then later you will complain about not being able to sit. Shut up and let me at least slightly prepare you” he replied, leaning down and biting his shoulder, harder, before pushing in all the first finger, making Chanyeol groan at the insertion.<br/>
“You are too tight…” Baekhyun whispered before spitting a bit more of saliva on the finger that he just inserted.<br/>
“I can take it” Chanyeol granted him and Baekhyun sighed before inserting another finger and hearing him groan again, this time louder.<br/>
He didn’t want to praise Chanyeol but he was really taking them so well despite the situation and the utilization of not-so-lubricant saliva.<br/>
“How are you? Can I put in another one?” he asked to Chanyeol who nodded shortly, but Baekhyun caressed Chanyeol’s hand that was leaning on the wall and sighed softly.<br/>
“Vocal replies, Chanyeol. I want to hear you” he remembered him and Chanyeol cleared his throat before replying a low yes please.<br/>
Baekhyun pushed in another finger, starting to move them inside Chanyeol, setting a pace and gently caressing Chanyeol’s back.<br/>
“You are taking it so well, Chanyeol” he whispered to him that groaned, pushing toward Baekhyun’s fingers, moving accordingly to Baekhyun’s fingers movements inside him.<br/>
And Baekhyun didn’t take many longer to find Chanyeol’s soft spot, making him moan louder, arching his back.<br/>
“Ah, Baek… there, please” Chanyeol moaned making Baekhyun feel like his trousers became definitely too tight and his erection needed some attention because he was about to explode.<br/>
He wanted to thrust in Chanyeol so bad and feeling him coming, clenching his erection pounding inside him oh so bad.<br/>
“Do you like it?” Baekhyun asked him, thrusting deeper and quicker inside him, setting an harder pace and Chanyeol moaned again.<br/>
“I would like your dick better” he replied, voice low and Baekhyun bit his lips, groaning lowly.<br/>
“Do you really want it?” Baekhyun teased him, pace slowing down, fingers teasing Chanyeol’s prostate, making him arch his back.<br/>
“Yes, I want to feel you inside me” he pleaded and Baekhyun pulled out his fingers from Chanyeol, making him hiss at the friction and at the lack of contact.<br/>
Baekhyun stretched taking a condom from one of the low shelves in the room, unbuckling his trousers and pushing them down, together with his boxer.<br/>
“Why in the world…” Chanyeol started, voice low no more than a whisper, but Baekhyun gripped again harder on his buttock, thumbs slightly caressing his entrance but without pushing it in, making Chanyeol shut up immediately, repressing a groan.<br/>
Baekhyun opened the condom, rolling it on his already hard erection.<br/>
“Don’t take your time there” Chanyeol whined making Baekhyun click his tongue.<br/>
“I was admiring how sexy you are, stop whining” he replied, slightly stroking his erection few times, before nearing Chanyeol’s entrance and pushing it in in a single thrust.<br/>
Chanyeol arched his back, moaning loudly and Baekhyun groaned at the sensation.<br/>
It was oh so tight and so hot that Baekhyun thought he could come in that very moment.<br/>
“Chanyeol” he groaned, gripping harder to his sides and Chanyeol sighed, trying to steady his breath.<br/>
“You can move whenever you want” he whispered and Baekhyun wasn’t waiting for any other thing.<br/>
He started to thrust slowly, deeply, trying to feel every inch of that hot and tight sensation completely enveloping his erection.<br/>
“You are so perfect” Baekhyun muttered, setting a harder pace, thrusting even deeply and quicker, making Chanyeol lean in better toward the wall and Baekhyun reached for one of his hand, gripping it hard.<br/>
Chanyeol took it, squeezing it back.<br/>
“You are. And you are filling me up so good” he moaned again, adjusting and following Baekhyun’s movements inside him, granting him better access.<br/>
Enough for Baekhyun to hit again his prostate, earning himself another low moan.<br/>
“Baekhyun, please, please, more” he pleaded him and Baekhyun gladly compiled, feeling his release getting alarming near, quicker than he could think about.<br/>
He thought to leave Chanyeol’s hand to move it and stroke Chanyeol’s erection, but Chanyeol gripped on his hand harder, moaning again, breath coming shorter.<br/>
“Please, don’t stop, harder” he asked Baekhyun who nodded, leaning in and pounding harder in him, gripping harder on his side and making Chanyeol’s come untouched, moaning Baekhyun’s name and squeezing his erection impossibly harder inside himself.<br/>
Baekhyun came too, suddenly, biting his lips trying to contain a low moan and thrusting a little bit slower, enjoying every second of his came, slowly getting to a complete stop.<br/>
Baekhyun was sweaty and hot and how perfect was Chanyeol?<br/>
Everything was perfect, almost like a dream.<br/>
Or maybe Chanyeol was still, even if they both were in their thirties, his teenage dream?<br/>
They didn’t have sex like that neither when they were younger and reckless.<br/>
“You… You okay?” he whispered, slowly pulling out and making Chanyeol hiss at the friction.<br/>
“I’m too old for this?” he replied and Baekhyun chuckled softly.<br/>
“And here I was thinking about going to your place, drink some more and getting another round…” he started and Chanyeol turned toward him, stare inquiring.<br/>
“Really?” he asked him and Baekhyun smirked.<br/>
“What do you think?” he replied, caressing his cheeks and slightly kissing him, licking his lips and detaching almost immediately.<br/>
He could have sex with Chanyeol all night long for what he thought.<br/>
He still wanted him so much.<br/>
“Let me dress then and let’s go to my place. I have an excellent Italian sparkling wine. Viva Polo’s owner brought it to me today” he replied, looking with his stare for something to clean himself a bit.<br/>
And when he found nothing, if not some Kleenex he had in his pocket, he used them to clean before pulling on again his trousers.<br/>
Baekhyun pulled out the condom, throwing it in the small bin in the corner, imitating Chanyeol’s gesture and nodding shortly.<br/>
“I need sparkling wine after these extra sugary cocktails” he added and Chanyeol nodded softly, brushing his hair and buttoning again his shirt.<br/>
“Won’t we go, then?” Chanyeol asked him, leaning his arm on Baekhyun’s shoulders.<br/>
“How do you come here?” Baekhyun inquired, walking slowly out of the club and Chanyeol frowned.<br/>
“Didn’t you come with the car?” he retorted making Baekhyun chuckle, shaking his head.<br/>
“I never drive when I know that I drink” he replied earning himself an appreciation whistle from Chanyeol.<br/>
“Taxi then?” Baekhyun concluded but Chanyeol frowned shortly.<br/>
There was a small silence and Baekhyun frowned too.<br/>
“What’s up?” he asked him and Chanyeol hummed briefly.<br/>
“I don’t remember if I asked my driver to come pick me up or no?” he replied honestly and Baekhyun’s stare grew larger before he could let out a loud laugh.<br/>
“Are you joking right?” he asked him but Chanyeol shook his head and Baekhyun huffed, unbelieving.<br/>
“How old are you again?” he continued and Chanyeol huffed, taking his phone out of his pocket to see if there were missed calls or messages.<br/>
He fidgeted with his phone before shaking his head.<br/>
“Okay for the taxi” he stated and Baekhyun chuckled again, calling a taxi with a gesture of his hand.<br/>
Chanyeol gave the driver his address and Baekhyun couldn’t stop smiling, hand easily finding Chanyeol’s near his on the seat of the taxi.<br/>
He slightly gripped on it, getting a small squeeze back.<br/>
The night was still long and they haven’t even started.</p><p><br/>
It was a morning after one of their sex nights, and Baekhyun decided to stop for breakfast, using Chanyeol's coffee machine to make himself so coffee before going away.<br/>
He felt slow and still sleepy when Junmyeon ID appeared on the screen of his phone, he accepted the call putting it with speaker. <br/>
"Myeon, I'm still in dreamland. So speak easy and slowly" he said while working on the coffee maker.<br/>
"Are you sure about that article on Park Industries?" he asked him and Baekhyun hummed in thought. <br/>
"Sure... I thought about it thoughtfully? You can edit what I sent to you yesterday" he replied and Junmyeon hummed softly. <br/>
Baekhyun finally decided to write what actually was about Parks' story.<br/>
Everything Chanyeol and Yoora told him and how they didn’t close down Park Industries just because, but to save their family and helping justice catching some dangerous people, building also a new empire under the name of Park Corporation.<br/>
"Is there something that you are not telling me, Baek?" he continued and Baekhyun let out a small laugh.<br/>
"Nope. Enjoy your Sunday morning, see you tomorrow" he whispered hanging up the call.<br/>
"What about an article about Park Industries?" Chanyeol asked him from the doorway and Baekhyun turned slightly, smiling at him.<br/>
"Nothing new" he replied but Chanyeol shook his head.<br/>
His stare was hard and worried.<br/>
"So, all of this was only for writing something on me and my family?" Chanyeol asked him briefly and Baekhyun's stare widened in surprise.<br/>
"What? No... Absolutely no" he denied shaking his head and he really didn't want Chanyeol to misunderstand all the things.<br/>
He loved staying with Chanyeol.<br/>
It almost became something Baekhyun could do for forever.<br/>
But Chanyeol clicked his tongue shaking his head.<br/>
"You are such a liar. Take your things and go away" he stated coldly but Baekhyun shook his head.<br/>
"Chanyeol is not..." he started, trying to explain his reason, but earning himself another glare from Chanyeol.<br/>
"Are you deaf? I said, go away" he repeated and Baekhyun took his phone and walked away, taking also his jacket and exiting the door, slamming it behind him.<br/>
Chanyeol didn't know nothing.<br/>
He didn't know how the article on Park Industries was about him, but he wrote exactly what Chanyeol himself wanted Baekhyun to write since the very start, explaining how important was Chanyeol contribution to that place.<br/>
And he didn’t write it to please Chanyeol but because, story wise, it was the truth.<br/>
Baekhyun sighed lighting up a cigarette on his way out and feeling once again like years before.<br/>
Betrayed from the only person he wanted to try and trust again in the world.<br/>
But Chanyeol didn't trust him the same.<br/>
He didn't have feelings for him.<br/>
He simply liked to fuck around a bit.<br/>
Maybe that was the right sign he was waiting for going away again.<br/>
Eventually he would have accepted also that separation, even if it felt heavier on his chest that everything else he never experienced before.<br/>
Chanyeol was the only one who still mattered this deeply to Baekhyun.<br/>
The only one that still had the power to hurt him so much.<br/>
Unfortunately, though, this wasn't the end.<br/>
The following day, Baekhyun was dressing up for going to work when Junmyeon called him again.<br/>
"Turn on the TV on first channel" he ordered him and Baekhyun obeyed.<br/>
On the news there was Chanyeol speaking about the importance of respecting right information and not to trust every single person who was able to write an article.<br/>
Someone without home and rootless as Baekhyun couldn't understand how important was the work Parks were doing to make Seoul a better place. <br/>
And yes, that in the end Baekhyun used not so professional ways to earn information from him, including offering him sexual favors.<br/>
Baekhyun couldn't believe his ears and... Was Chanyeol ruining all the work he did in years even without knowing what he wrote in that article? <br/>
Baekhyun felt betrayed once again, fingers carding through his hair unable to process things.<br/>
However, Chanyeol didn't stop there.<br/>
He revealed all the things Baekhyun struggled to keep out of his professional life, like his family’s matters, the fact that he couldn't play piano anymore and even the fact that, even if it was for his own defense, he killed a man.<br/>
Everything.<br/>
Everything Baekhyun preferred to keep for himself revealed to the world in no more than fifteen minutes interview.<br/>
He was so perplexed and so hurt, that he didn’t even know how to behave.<br/>
He simply turned off the television, wondering why he was taking so much to heart for nothing.<br/>
It was his fault for trusting Chanyeol.<br/>
And always his fault for telling him those things and accepting to have a sex-based relationship with him.<br/>
If someone was to blame, that was no one else than Baekhyun himself.<br/>
"I... think I'll go to Iran. I'll buy a ticket right now. Prepare the paperwork" Baekhyun whispered and Junmyeon didn't know what to say so he only agreed to Baekhyun's words.<br/>
Baekhyun sighed again.<br/>
He felt the hurt running so deep inside him he didn't even know what to do. <br/>
He bought the ticket, only the outward voyage, not the return one and then waited for Junmyeon to send him all the papers.<br/>
He contacted Jondae and Taeyeon telling them that he had to leave suddenly. <br/>
Luckily both of them haven't seen Chanyeol's interview so they just wished him to be back soon.<br/>
Not that Baekhyun wished the same but still agreed to let them know when he would be back.<br/>
And that very same evening he left Seoul and Korea.<br/>
He told Junmyeon to publish the article on Park Industries even though Chanyeol didn't deserve such a nice article on his life and personality.<br/>
But Baekhyun's work was telling people the truth and that was the truth behind Park Industries, Park Corporation and Parks.<br/>
Baekhyun went away without taking anything else.<br/>
Without contacting anyone else.<br/>
Once again alone like every other moment in his life.</p><p><br/>
Baekhyun spent almost six months in Iran, traveling from city to village being able only to contact Junmyeon to send him some information and pics.<br/>
Every other contact was not existing. <br/>
He only exchanged his international phone number with Junmyeon, Jondae and Taeyeon so he only received news from them. <br/>
He was having a really long day and, what started with a simple report on ancient musical instruments, slowly drifted into finding out what was happening in those areas and why people spoke about it being infested by vampires.<br/>
He was staying in a small city connected to the world through GPS and old LAN cables and that was inhabited by old people and some adventurer.<br/>
He was sitting in the only bar of the area testing their connection to see if he would manage to send some pics to Junmyeon when his phone rang attracting his attention.<br/>
The number was Jondae's but it was... strange for him to call him at that hour.<br/>
In Seoul it was almost 2 am.<br/>
"Dae? You okay?" he asked him worried, frowning at the signal of connection lost on the screen of his small computer.<br/>
"Taeyeon is going to marry and she's so sad and I don't know what to do?" he started and Baekhyun sighed softly.<br/>
There was a lot of noises in the background and maybe he was in some clubs? <br/>
"Is she with you? Do you want me to speak with her?" he asked him but Jondae replied that he didn't know where she went to and they needed him to go back.<br/>
Baekhyun didn't want to.<br/>
But Taeyeon was his friend and probably in one week he would be able to settle down things?<br/>
"One week. Give me one week and I'll be back to Seoul" he stated and Jondae drunk thanked him almost hundred times.<br/>
He stared perplexed at the phone before putting it away and shutting down the computer. <br/>
He had to move if he wanted to be on a plane to Seoul in a week.</p><p><br/>
Vampires weren't vampires but locals with a weird idea of respecting traditions.<br/>
Baekhyun documented everything with pictures and he was sure that Junmyeon would have loved both the article on the musical instruments and both on the vampires.<br/>
His flight back was... Uncomfortable. <br/>
He felt like a packed sardine and, apart from helping Taeyeon out, he couldn't find any other good reason why he was flying back to Korea.<br/>
He felt the need of taking a shower because it felt like years more than months since last one he had a proper one.<br/>
When he landed in Incheon Airport he was, for a moment, stroke by the idea that maybe it would be nice to pass and greet Yoora but he wasn't in his best conditions at all.<br/>
He waited for his luggage, craving for a cigarette and shivering a bit.<br/>
How cold was Korea in that period?<br/>
It wasn't neither the end of November and it was already that cold? <br/>
For a moment, he kind of missed Iran.<br/>
He retrieved his luggage and walked toward the exit, hoping to find a tobacco shop soon.<br/>
He fixed better his headphones in his ears and he was almost on the exit when his international phone pinged. <br/>
It was a message from Jondae.<br/>
"We came to pick you up" it stated and Baekhyun frowned crossing the arrival exit and lifting the stare from the phone, meeting the stare of someone unexpected.<br/>
There were Jondae and Taeyeon.<br/>
But also Sehun.<br/>
And Chanyeol.<br/>
He forced a smile, waiving toward them.<br/>
"I'm back" he whispered and Taeyeon hugged him, starting to cry and Baekhyun sighed hugging her back.<br/>
"Yeon, I didn't go to war and I smell like something died months ago. Maybe it's not..." he started saying but she hugged him tighter, slapping his shoulder. <br/>
"Would you shut up? Let me love you" she whispered softly, hands stroking Baekhyun’s back and he agreed, closing his eyes and resting his head on her shoulder.<br/>
"What did I do before you came back to Korea?" Taeyeon asked him making him chuckle.<br/>
"Maybe I'm the source of your problems actually. You were kind of resigned to marry the first time we met again and I think I was the only one who told you that it was a bullshit" he added and she slapped him again.<br/>
"Idiot. You just stated the truth" she started saying but he stopped her, distancing her softly.<br/>
Taeyeon deserved all the good things in the world and being him the person who made her waver, wasn’t the best sensation Baekhyun could have.<br/>
"Truth can be uncomfortable. Maybe it's not what you wanted to hear. Maybe I should have supported you... But the idea that it didn't make you happy, how could..." he started, ranting, but she caressed his cheek softly.<br/>
"Hyunnie, I'm more than grateful. It was the best comment I could hope for. You saved me" she whispered and Baekhyun frowned shortly.<br/>
"You won't marry anymore?" he asked her softly who shook her head perplexed.<br/>
"Dae didn't tell you?" she inquired back and Baekhyun's frown got deeper, stare shifting toward Jondae.<br/>
"Dae?" he asked him and he showed him a sly smile.<br/>
Baekhyun sighed deeply, hands still caressing Taeyeon's back.<br/>
"Care to explain or I have to take a flight back to Iran?" he inquired toward Jondae.<br/>
"Won't we speak after you put down your things and maybe took a shower and...?" he started offering him a pack of Baekhyun’s favorite cigarettes and Baekhyun took it warily.<br/>
"Are you buying my time and patience with a pack of cigarettes?" he asked and Jondae nodded softly.<br/>
Baekhyun sighed briefly. <br/>
"Lighter?" he asked him and Jondae rustled in his pocket taking out a lighter and giving it to Baekhyun.<br/>
Baekhyun took it, shaking his head.<br/>
"Drive me home?" he concluded and Jondae beamed at him.<br/>
"Sure done" he declared and started to walk out of the airport, followed by the others.<br/>
Baekhyun spoke with Taeyeon until the exit where he stopped for lighting up a cigarette.<br/>
He inhaled satisfied, feeling slightly better.<br/>
"Since how many years have you been smoking?" Chanyeol asked him out of the blue and Baekhyun hummed in thought.<br/>
"Twelve. When I went to the States, neither a month later. It got worse with the years, though. I didn't smoke so much like now..." he replied puffing out some smoke, carding his fingers through his hair.<br/>
He didn’t actually know when he started, but he knew it was some moment after he transferred and before he ended high school.<br/>
"Move your cute ass, Baek. You stink" Jondae called him from where he parked the car.<br/>
"Yeah, yeah..." he whispered stomping the cigarette in his portable ashtray and sitting in the passenger seat near Jondae.<br/>
"They all come with us?" Baekhyun asked Jondae who nodded shortly making Baekhyun sigh deeply.<br/>
He was too tired to object and even to ask why Chanyeol of all the people was there with them.<br/>
He hoped to just go home, take a shower and sleep but he was far from realizing the last part.<br/>
"Better stop somewhere to buy something to eat if you want to eat something together?" he proposed but Jondae shook his head.<br/>
"We were thinking about take away?" he proposed and Baekhyun hummed in thoughts. <br/>
"I have only wine at home... If you want beer or something else, we have to stop somewhere" he added and Jondae snorted nodding softly.<br/>
"You and your wines... Will I ever get used to them?" Jondae joked and Baekhyun huffed softly.<br/>
"Not my fault if you prefer something less tasty and less alcoholic than wine" he commented shrugging his shoulders and Jondae looked for the agreement of the others behind them but the first to reply was Chanyeol.<br/>
"Actually, I prefer wine too" he whispered and Sehun huffed shaking his head. <br/>
"I don't think Baek's selection of wines is larger than Chanyeol's" he observed making Baekhyun chuckle, shaking his head.<br/>
"I think it is, if someone didn't force his way in just to drink off some" he added making both Sehun's and Taeyeon's eyes grew larger in perplexity. <br/>
Even Chanyeol seemed to be perplexed and Baekhyun felt a bit proud.<br/>
He collected wines from all the world and has several of the ones he liked the most.<br/>
"I also brought two bottles from Iran if you are up to it?" he added nodding and Jondae parked in front of his apartment complex.<br/>
"Fourth floor, right?" Jondae asked him and Baekhyun nodded shortly exiting the car and walking toward the elevator followed by the others.<br/>
"It's been three years since last time I came here?" Jondae stated and Taeyeon shook her head.<br/>
"For me it was last time before he went to Iran" she added and Sehun nodded softly. <br/>
"Almost the same for me" he added and Baekhyun wanted to tell them that it wasn't a competition but Chanyeol hummed softly.<br/>
"I didn't even know that you live here. Neither that you came back to Korea before we met" he observed and Baekhyun pressed his lips in a thin line.<br/>
Obviously, Baekhyun didn't tell anything to Chanyeol since how they were when he left for the States. <br/>
And even in that moment he didn't know why or with which reason he was agreeing so easily to let Chanyeol inside his house.<br/>
"It was because we forced our way back to Baekhyun's life" Jondae replied instead of Baekhyun.<br/>
Baekhyun hummed softly, taking the elevator back to his house.<br/>
He opened the door, slowly switching on the lights.<br/>
"I'm back" he whispered even if he knew that there was no one inside.<br/>
He tipped off his shoes and put the luggage and his backpack near the couch.<br/>
"Please come inside" he added briefly switching also the other lights in the house.<br/>
"Dae, do house introduction for me. I'll shower in five minutes" he replied pulling off his hoodie and t-shirt and literally throwing them toward the bathroom.<br/>
"Baek, we have a miss here. Behave yourself" Jondae scolded him but Baekhyun turned around frowning.<br/>
"I think that, out of you, Yeon is the one that saw me at my worst? And she won't be shocked in seeing me without t-shirt" he stated making Taeyeon chuckle, nodding shortly.<br/>
"No worries, Hyunnie. Take your time" she concluded and Baekhyun smiled at her going toward his room and picking up a change of clothes before disappearing inside the bathroom.<br/>
He really took five minutes to take a shower and he felt heavenly after it.<br/>
And lighter.<br/>
He came back in the living room where Sehun discovered the box Baekhyun retrieved from the garage box with all his old photos.<br/>
"You found something interesting?" Baekhyun asked them, towel still on his hair, looking toward them that were looking through the photos.<br/>
They all turned toward him, caught red-handed.<br/>
"You were quicker than expected..." Jondae started and Baekhyun shook his head.<br/>
"I told you five minutes" he replied but Taeyeon smiled softly at him.<br/>
"You still have all of these" she whispered and Baekhyun nodded nearing them.<br/>
Taeyeon had in her hands an old photo of them sitting together in their high school garden, laughing and joking with each other.<br/>
Baekhyun smiled softly, fingers caressing the picture surface.<br/>
"They were good times" he muttered, feeling the solitude and the sadness he felt the first time he transferred abroad.<br/>
He wanted to walk away, to close again the drawer of his memories, but Sehun produced that photos of Chanyeol with the orange sweater.<br/>
"Oh" he stated when he found it and Baekhyun shifted his stare away.<br/>
He wanted to comment something, whatever that could make the mood lighter, that could wash away those unrequited feelings he still had, but his phone rang startling him.<br/>
"I'm sorry" he whispered walking away and taking the call.<br/>
It was from Junmyeon.<br/>
"Baek, have you landed?" he asked him and Baekhyun replied affirmatively.<br/>
"Yeah, sorry for not calling you before. Dae and Yeon made me a surprise" he whispered and Junmyeon was happy and let him go immediately with the promise to call him back later.<br/>
He walked back to the living room where magically the photos came back to the same place where they were and Taeyeon smiled at him asking him what he wanted to eat.<br/>
"Whatever is fine for you. I'm up to whatever you want" he replied but both Taeyeon and Chanyeol shook their head.<br/>
"You decide" Chanyeol stated and Baekhyun sighed shaking his head.<br/>
"Guys... Really I'm not sure it's a good idea..." he started but Taeyeon shook her head too.<br/>
"Come on. Pizza? Italian? Chinese? Thai? Sushi?" she started asking him, nearing him and he smiled softly. <br/>
"Yeon really..." he tried but she puffed her cheeks.<br/>
"Don't make me chose because you won't be able to complain later!" she stated almost angry and he took her hand smiling softly.<br/>
He was tired and jet lag remembered him that it wasn’t either breakfast time in the place he was before.<br/>
"Really. I'm not up to eat, so whatever you want it's fine" he whispered delicately, and she frowned.<br/>
"Are you tired? Do you want us to go away?" she asked him who shook his head immediately.<br/>
"No, no Yeon no worries. Just I'm not..." he started again but she squeezes his cheeks.<br/>
"Then sushi. Because I'm the only woman here and sushi will be?" she proposed and Baekhyun smiled softly at her.<br/>
“Sure. Whatever you want” he replied and Jondae shook his head, getting into the discourse.<br/>
“You spoil her too much, Baek. It’s for this reason that she hasn’t find a man for her?” he asked making Baekhyun chuckle and Taeyeon puff her cheeks again.<br/>
“I suspect it’s something else, actually, but…” Baekhyun started saying but Taeyeon pushed her hand on his mouth making him shut up immediately.<br/>
“Hyunnie! Not a word! It was a promise!” she exclaimed and Baekhyun smiled at her, tilting his head on the side.<br/>
“No worries” he whispered and Taeyeon smiled at him too.<br/>
Taeyeon hadn’t found her man yet because she preferred women.<br/>
So she wasn’t even looking for a man.<br/>
“So sushi?” Baekhyun added and both Jondae and Sehun cheered at the suggestion.<br/>
And for the first time during that day and in months too, Baekhyun’s stare went to Chanyeol.<br/>
“Also for you?” he asked briefly and Chanyeol nodded briefly making Baekhyun sigh in exasperation.<br/>
“Do you want to order it or…” he started asking but Taeyeon took Sehun and Chanyeol’s hands and pull them toward the door.<br/>
“No, no, we will go and fetch it! You stay here and relax a bit! I leave you Jondae as company!” Taeyeon stated and even before someone could comment or protest, she was already out of the house with Sehun and Chanyeol.<br/>
Baekhyun sighed deeply, thanking for the silence, but sighing deeply.<br/>
“What in the world were you thinking of?” Baekhyun asked Jondae who shook his head shortly.<br/>
“Yeol is not as you think, Baek” he replied and once again there was so much weird things in that sentence that Baekhyun could hardly process every single one.<br/>
“You became friends?” he asked him and Jondae nodded briefly, making Baekhyun sigh again.<br/>
“I’m glad you… smoothed out your problems, but I’m not exactly fine with seeing him around?” he whispered and Jondae frowned.<br/>
“Baek, you are…” he started but Baekhyun shook his head.<br/>
He was tired and the last person he wanted to see was exactly Chanyeol.<br/>
He would have done whatever in order to avoid him.<br/>
“I’m what? Touchy? Petty? Yeah you are right, but after that the only person I’ve ever love in my life, blabbed about things I’ve never told anyone but him on the national television, can I be a little upset?” he asked him, fingers carding through his hair and realizing only later that he just confessed out loud his love for Chanyeol.<br/>
A confession he never made to anyone.<br/>
He knew it because he knew it.<br/>
But he never told it to anyone before.<br/>
“Baek, you are in love with Yeol?” Jondae asked him perplexed and Baekhyun sighed deeply, shaking his head.<br/>
“This shouldn’t be the matter, Dae” he whispered, sighing briefly and sitting on his couch.<br/>
Jondae sat near him, patting his back.<br/>
“He did that just because…” he started but Baekhyun glared at him.<br/>
“I know why he did it. Because he thought I wrote an article on him and how supposedly Park family was betrayed by him who later funded Park Corporation” he stated inhaling deeply and Jondae nodded shortly.<br/>
“But he told on television everything about me. Things I’ve never told neither to you or Yeon. Things that I would prefer to keep as secret as possible. And just because he was afraid? I’ve told him that I would have only written the truth!” Baekhyun added again shaking his head, pushing his fingers in his hair and gripping slightly.<br/>
He was still so dejected by Chanyeol’s behavior and irritated by the fact that Baekhyun himself still cared about it.<br/>
“I should have known. And keep the distance when I could. But no, he had to propose me to fuck and I was fine with it…” he added in a sigh and Jondae frowned perplexed.<br/>
“What?” he asked and Baekhyun sighed softly.<br/>
“He didn’t tell you since you are friends? We went to dinner and then we… ended up having sex? And when I told him that it was just a “one-night thing”, he proposed me to have sex constantly? And we did. I fucked with him for months, more than weeks” he whispered, starting to explain everything about what happened between him and Chanyeol.<br/>
“But I shouldn’t have. Because I was still in love with Chanyeol… so in love that I couldn’t refuse him at all” he concluded briefly, making Jondae sigh deeply.<br/>
“Baek, I think you have to speak with Yeol. This is why I invited also him when I knew when you would be coming back to Korea. This is why I called you telling you that in the end Tae would marry even if she didn’t want to. Because I knew that you would be coming back for her or for me and for no other reason” he explained and Baekhyun shook his head.<br/>
“Am I this predictable?” he asked him and Jondae chuckled.<br/>
“Actually no, it took all my intellect plus Seok and Sehun’s help to come up with something you couldn’t refuse” he replied and Baekhyun snorted, soft smile appearing on his lips.<br/>
“I’m fucked nevertheless, Dae. I’m in love with a man that doesn’t trust nor love me back. Being here, with him around, can’t help me at all” he stated making the gesture to sit up but Jondae stopped him.<br/>
“I’m telling you it’s not like that…” he added but Baekhyun sighed again, finger caressing the back of Jondae’s hand.<br/>
“Don’t. I’ve already mistaken physical needs for affection one time. I won’t do it another time” Baekhyun whispered, forcing a small smile before sitting up.<br/>
“Let’s simply enjoy this evening and then let me go back to my life away from here” he concluded and Jondae clearly wanted to insist any further but the bell rang, signaling that the others were back.<br/>
They ate together and the mood was light, fun and Baekhyun for few hours almost forget that time passed since high school.<br/>
Almost because every time he looked toward Chanyeol, he knew well enough how deep his feelings were running inside him and how Chanyeol didn’t care about it.<br/>
Chanyeol was stunning also that day, always so sparkling and so bubbly and Baekhyun realized that he could have lost himself only in hear his laughter or stare at him smiling.<br/>
Sehun and Taeyon were perplexed about Baekhyun’s selection of wines and Baekhyun opened a bottle just for them, something sweet that almost remembered him of that Passito.<br/>
But it was a Spanish wine, totally different, slightly bubbly and flowery, not fortified.<br/>
“It has a flowery taste” Taeyeon commented drinking a sip and Baekhyun smiled softly, nodding.<br/>
“It comes from Andalusia. They used it to celebrate” he added, without telling them the whole story.<br/>
It was used for celebrating, yes, but mainly the departure of people, both in life or in death.<br/>
Taeyeon, along with Sehun and Jondae appreciated it and drink a bit, but Chanyeol frowned at his choice and took only a sip, more than drinking it.<br/>
“I’m sorry it doesn’t suit your taste. Do you want something else?” Baekhyun asked him, already sitting up to go and take another wine, but Chanyeol shook his head softly.<br/>
“No, thanks” he simply replied and Baekhyun hummed, nodding, stare shifting to the bottom of his glass, sparkling under the golden liquid.<br/>
What Chanyeol was thinking of all of that?<br/>
Did he read Baekhyun’s article on Park Corporation?<br/>
Did he even care about Baekhyun not being around or…?<br/>
Baekhyun pushed again all those thoughts at the back of his mind.<br/>
What would he gain for knowing it?<br/>
Nothing but more sadness.<br/>
And he had enough of it.<br/>
So he decided that he didn’t want to know anything about it.<br/>
They all stayed together a while more but then Taeyeon declared that it was the right moment to go home and leave Baekhyun to rest a bit.<br/>
Baekhyun pulled out his best smile in thanking her and to greet them on the door, thanking for the diner and for the company.<br/>
He felt so insincere in his words, but he was so tired and he just wanted to forget everything and go to sleep.<br/>
The day after, he probably would go to meet Junmyeon to give him photos and articles and then he would go away again, maybe back to the States to meet some friends from back there.<br/>
He closed the door after everyone went out and sat on the couch, resting his head on its back.<br/>
“You are such an idiot” he whispered himself, fingers carding through his hair.<br/>
He sat up spreading all his papers on the small tables and pulling out both his cameras and all the rolls he had to develop.<br/>
Between his folders, he found also the ones on Park Industries that Junmyeon gave him a while ago.<br/>
He was about to put them away once again, when someone knocked on the door and Baekhyun frowned softly, putting the folders on the small table and sitting up to go and open the door.<br/>
Baekhyun opened slightly the door, just to find Chanyeol there, out of his breath.<br/>
“Did you…” Baekhyun started but Chanyeol took his arm pulling him in a hug.<br/>
Baekhyun was enveloped by Chanyeol’s sweet perfume and warmth.<br/>
Baekhyun didn’t push him away.<br/>
Maybe because he needed that warmth in that moment.<br/>
Or maybe because he was indeed an idiot.<br/>
“Can we talk?” Chanyeol whispered in his ear and Baekhyun nodded shortly, detaching from the embrace and opening better the door, making Chanyeol gesture to follow him inside.<br/>
Chanyeol entered too, closing the door after him.<br/>
“Were you working?” he asked Baekhyun who shook his head briefly, not even bothering to put away all the papers and folders splayed on the small table.<br/>
Chanyeol’s stare was caught by the folders with Park Industries written on capital letters on it.<br/>
“What…?” he asked and Baekhyun shrugged his shoulders.<br/>
“Old files I asked Junmyeon to write my article on Park Corporation. Never had the chance to give them back” he replied walking toward the kitchen and opening a different bottle compared to the one he offered to the others before.<br/>
He needed something stronger and not so sweet.<br/>
And possible not wine either.<br/>
Baekhyun didn’t have many bottles that weren’t wine but he had some whiskey too.<br/>
He opened one, pouring the amber liquor inside a short glass and sitting on the counter of his kitchen.<br/>
“So?” he asked Chanyeol that followed him in the kitchen, now without jacket because he left it probably somewhere in the living room.<br/>
Baekhyun showed him the whiskey bottle and Chanyeol nodded softly.<br/>
Baekhyun poured another glass also for Chanyeol.<br/>
Chanyeol sniffed it shortly before sipping it briefly.<br/>
“I like it” he stated and Baekhyun smirked.<br/>
“I don’t own unpleasant wines or liquors” he replied, shrugging his shoulders but Chanyeol frowned.<br/>
“Or maybe yes?” he commented making Baekhyun frown again.<br/>
“Tonight’s wine. I didn’t quite appreciate it…” he added and Baekhyun shook his head, drinking another bit and appreciating the burning sensation that it left in his mouth.<br/>
“Maybe you are not up to fruity wines?” he asked him but Chanyeol shook his head too.<br/>
“Or maybe I don’t like their meaning?” he suggested back and Baekhyun chuckled, even if he was slightly perplexed.<br/>
“Who would have thought that you knew about Andalusian wines?” he retorted, forcing a smile but Chanyeol sighed deeply, putting his glass down on the table.<br/>
“Baekhyun, I…” he started but Baekhyun shook his head.<br/>
“You are here for a fuck? I’m up to it if you want” he spat out, shrugging his shoulders and he was really fine with it.<br/>
He kind of missed the sensation of holding someone, especially if this someone was Chanyeol.<br/>
Chanyeol’s eyes grew larger in surprise but then he shook his head.<br/>
“No, I… wanted to talk about things” he whispered and Baekhyun nodded briefly.<br/>
“Then speak. I’m tired and I don’t have all the night” he concluded, drinking the whole glass in a go.<br/>
Chanyeol sighed softly before bowing deeply.<br/>
“I’m really sorry” he exclaimed and Baekhyun let out a bitter laugh.<br/>
“Seriously?” he started, standing again instead of sitting on the counter.<br/>
“You come here to say you are sorry? Should I ask you politely to go away or should I simply tell you to fuck off?” he asked him and Chanyeol stood and wanted to reply but Baekhyun clicked his tongue, feeling the tears prickling the corners of his eyes, after so many years without even a single tear.<br/>
“You are the worst. Please go away” he whispered but Chanyeol shook his head.<br/>
“I really am, Baekhyun. I shouldn’t have…” he started but Baekhyun pointed his middle finger at him, pressing it to his chest.<br/>
“No, you shouldn’t have! I managed to keep my work just because I know Junmyeon since so many years. And you know how many questions I had to reply about that man in China? And how many articles I wrote were questioned because of what you said?” he asked feeling the anger and the dejection catching up with him again.<br/>
“And you said that we fucked?! On national television! What about letting my professional life out of whatever we had?” he continued, shaking his head and Chanyeol sighed shortly.<br/>
“Listen, I…” he started but Baekhyun inhaled deeply, distancing himself from Chanyeol, going to pour himself another glass of whiskey.<br/>
“No, now you listen” he whispered, tone lower, trying to regain his composure.<br/>
“I get whatever you want to say. I accept your apologise and whatever else you want. Things won’t change, after all. If you are finished, can you go away?” he asked him, emptying again the glass and Chanyeol shook his head shortly, making Baekhyun huff in exasperation.<br/>
“Then what?” he asked him and Chanyeol sighed again deeply.<br/>
“I don’t want you to go away” he replied and Baekhyun frowned before chuckling, shaking his head.<br/>
“I beg your pardon?” he retorted and Chanyeol simply repeated his sentence.<br/>
Baekhyun couldn’t believe in his ears.<br/>
“If it’s for the sex…” he started but Chanyeol clicked his tongue.<br/>
“Why it has to be only sex for you?” he spat out making Baekhyun explode in a soundly laugh.<br/>
“For me?” he echoed, shaking his head, incredulous.<br/>
“It was you who suggested an only sex relationship” Baekhyun reminded him but Chanyeol exploded, this time finally losing his composure.<br/>
“Because it was the only way to make you stay!” he exclaimed, hurt showing behind his stare and Baekhyun frowned deeply.<br/>
“I think I don’t understand…” Baekhyun whispered and Chanyeol sighed deeply before sitting at the table and Baekhyun sat down with him, bringing the bottle with him.<br/>
“I was… happy to see you when we met at high school reunion. And I wanted to ask you about your life, your family, everything. However, in these years I changed myself to fit some stereotypes and didn’t manage to exit them when I was talking with you. And the same was for any other time we met since then” he started explaining and Baekhyun poured more whiskey for both of them.<br/>
“When you slapped me at your exhibit, I thought it was the right chance to get closer to you, even forcing you with an apologize interview” he stated and Baekhyun frowned, drinking a sip of his liquor.<br/>
“Why not simply asking me?” he inquired and Chanyeol shook his head.<br/>
“You were… out of my reach in that moment. Nothing could make you speak with me against your will. Apart maybe a public order on national television” he replied and Baekhyun hummed even if he wasn’t exactly convinced.<br/>
“I doubted also that one, actually, but luckily it worked and we met and you were as brilliant and as interesting as you were during high school and I wanted to know more about you, wanted to spend more time with you” he whispered and Baekhyun frowned softly, but keeping his questions for himself and letting Chanyeol talk.<br/>
He closed his eyes briefly, shaking his head.<br/>
“And you were still so gorgeous and that evening when I commented about Mark staring at you, I was almost jealous. Because you were all that I still looked for in a man” he added, cheeks slightly tinting rose and making a small smile appear on Baekhyun’s lips.<br/>
“Then you said that you didn’t bottom anymore and I was… attracted. And I don’t regret that choice even for a second. I loved every single instant of that night, Baekhyun, but I knew that with only I loved it, please stay you wouldn’t have agreed to stay. You would have refused me and whatever it might come between us” he whispered but Baekhyun shook his head.<br/>
“There never was an us” he stated and Chanyeol emptied his glass too, pouring himself some more.<br/>
“Exactly my point! Sex was the only way to bond you at me, since you didn’t have my same feelings” he stated and Baekhyun’s eyes grew larger in perplexity.<br/>
“You are behind lightyears to speak with me of feelings, Chanyeol” he retorted but Chanyeol shook his head, emptying also that glass in a single sip.<br/>
“I’ve always loved you even before you went to America” he whispered and Baekhyun was agape, dumbfounded.<br/>
“Pardon me?” he asked back and Chanyeol sighed, shaking his head.<br/>
“See? It’s exactly the reaction I wanted to avoid… because how could you be in love with me too? We were young and it was nice to have a nice relationship that included also sex with your best friend. Even if we never spoke about it, I know that we were exclusive? And that you somehow liked me? But some many years has passed and you never called me nor wrote me, even if I knew only later that it was because I messed up and told you to forget about me” he started ranting, explaining confusedly what he wanted to say but Baekhyun shook his head briefly.<br/>
“Are you joking? You are telling me that you loved me for all these years? Even when I was away, even when I came back?” he asked him and on Chanyeol’s lips appeared a soft, brief smile.<br/>
“You and no one other than you, Baekhyun. It was always you” he replied and Baekhyun closed his eyes inhaling deeply.<br/>
He poured himself another glass that he gulped down.<br/>
“It’s…” he started but Chanyeol stopped him with a gesture of his hand.<br/>
“I know. Weird, and maybe bothersome, but…” he started too but it was Baekhyun’s turn to interrupt him.<br/>
“You are the worst. The worst ever, Chanyeol. You pushed me away when I transferred to the other end of the world. You hurt me when you told me that you wanted me completely out of your life and that I had to forget about you. You treated me like a beggar when we met again and I told you what I was doing. You insult me and my friend in a public place at my own exhibit. And then you forced me to interview you and tell the world a story that you wanted me to tell. When I started investigating deeper in it, you proposed me sex at uncertain end but, when you discovered that I wrote an article on you and your family, you cut me off of your life again without even knowing what there was written. As if this isn’t sufficient, you revealed all my secrets at national television. And now, you come here, after ruining part of my life and of my career just to tell me that you have feelings for me?” he asked him, shaking his head and feeling again the tears on the corner of his eyes.<br/>
“Baekhyun, I…” Chanyeol started but Baekhyun shook his head.<br/>
“You told me something. Let me tell you something in return…” he whispered, inhaling deeply and for the first time ever speaking of everything happened since he went away.<br/>
“I loved being around you during high school. You were my… other half. I felt like everything would be fine as long as we were together. But then my parents decided to transfer to the States and I thought I would manage somehow, if you were with me. However, we drifted apart, slowly. And that time that you called me asking me to forget about what we had, I understood that it was over. Whatever it was, it wasn’t anymore” he started explaining, shaking his head and feeling that same sadness coming up to him again.<br/>
“I went through shit, like a lot of it. With my family, with what I did before working as reporter. You said I never went to University. That’s right and you know why? Because I was penniless and my father was in prison and my mother with another man and another family” he added, pouring himself another glass.<br/>
“I really wanted to tell someone all the things that were going on, but there wasn’t anyone. And even when I came back to Korea and started seeing again Dae or Yeon, I couldn’t weight their normal lives with my things” he added drinking another sip of whiskey and shaking softly his head.<br/>
He was a bit tipsy but maybe it would help him to push everything out, after so many years of silence.<br/>
“And when we saw again, even if you were so different, so changed, so… irritating for some sides too, it was like coming home after a whole life away. Sex was the only way for me to keep you near, not to go away and to stay a while longer here, finding excuses for not leaving you again. However, I had my certainty that you felt nothing for me, especially after you sent me away again from your life and you put me in such a difficult situation with my work and everything else” he concluded, emptying the glass and shaking his head again, feeling all the hurt and dejection he felt that day, when Junmyeon called him to tell him to turn on the television.<br/>
“So… Don’t speak with me of feeling, Chanyeol. Because I had so many for all these years that I could literally shower you with them” he whispered, staring at the bottom of his glass.<br/>
There was a small silence and then Chanyeol sighed deeply.<br/>
“And do you still have them…?” he asked him and Baekhyun chuckled.<br/>
“Would I be sitting here with you if I hadn’t anymore?” he retorted and Chanyeol let out a relieved sigh.<br/>
“So…” he started and Baekhyun snorted.<br/>
“So nothing. You are still an asshole. Except for the fact that I love you” he stated before sitting up and putting the bottle in the fridge and walking toward where Chanyeol was sitting.<br/>
“I love you too, if this can help?” Chanyeol retorted, making the gesture to sit up but Baekhyun pushed his shoulder forcing him to sit down again.<br/>
Baekhyun smiled softly at him.<br/>
“You have a lot to be forgiven, though” he added, leaning down slightly.<br/>
Chanyeol stared back at him, eyes sparkling, cheeks red and lips slightly parted.<br/>
Baekhyun missed every single detail.<br/>
His hand moved on his own toward Chanyeol’s cheek, caressing it gently.<br/>
“I can make my amends in a lot of way” he whispered in reply and Baekhyun smiled again.<br/>
“I’m interested in these… ways” Baekhyun added, leaning in and closing the distance that there was between them, pushing his lips on Chanyeol’s.<br/>
They tasted both as whiskey but Chanyeol had that sweet taste he always had and that made Baekhyun miss everything they had in the past.<br/>
Chanyeol kissed him back, fingers caressing the back of his neck and pulling him down toward him.<br/>
“I missed you, so much, Baekhyun…” Chanyeol whispered and Baekhyun hummed softly.<br/>
“I missed you for twelve years, Chanyeol. I can’t believe that maybe, after all these years, we are again on the same page” he replied and Chanyeol hummed softly.<br/>
“We are. I promise you that we are. I will care about you this time and won’t let you go” he replied and Baekhyun smiled gently, kissing him shortly on his lips.<br/>
“Is your driver downstairs waiting for you or…” Baekhyun asked him but Chanyeol shook his head.<br/>
“Dae drove me around today” he interrupted, making Baekhyun chuckle.<br/>
“So, I don’t break any rules in asking you to stay for the night?” he asked him again and Chanyeol smirked at him.<br/>
“I wonder if you would ever ask it” he replied making Baekhyun smile again.<br/>
“The bed is too big for me alone and you promised to amend for your guilts?” Baekhyun suggested and Chanyeol chuckled nodding shortly.<br/>
“Let me start, then” he concluded, pulling Baekhyun again down for another kiss.</p>
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